October 1, 1999

 To:East York Community Council

Etobicoke Community Council

North York Community Council

Scarborough Community Council

Toronto Community Council

York Community Council

From:Barry H. Gutteridge, Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services

Alan F. Speed, Fire Chief

Subject:Fire Services - KPMG Fire Station Location and Facilities Study

Supplemental Report # 3 of 3:

• Rationalization of Facilities
• Re-allocation of Apparatus
• Fleet Maintenance
• Human Resource Implications.

Purpose:

This report provides City Council with a response from staff of Toronto Fire Services (TFS) to a Councillor's request for additional information respecting recommendations contained within the KPMG Fire Station Location and Facilities Study report.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

There is no funding implications associated with the presentation of this report.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that City Council receive this report as information.

Council Background:

The following motion was moved by Councillor Balkissoon of the Emergency and Protective Services Committee at its meeting held on April 20, 1999.

"That the Fire Chief and General Manager, Ambulance Services, be requested to report to the Community Services Committee :

1. on the four key areas outlined in Recommendations Nos. (3) through (8) of the joint report of the Chief Administrative Officer and Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services; and
2. identify all budgetary implications".

The four key areas outlined in the above-noted recommendations were:

• Rationalization of Facilities
• Re-allocation of Apparatus
• Fleet Maintenance
• Human Resource Implications

Discussion:

Rationalization of Facilities:

In a report to Committee of the same date, and attached to that report as Attachment "B" is an Implementation Schedule for the construction of the proposed fire stations. In summary, Toronto Fire Services staff propose:

(aathe construction of six brand new fire stations over the next six years - labelled as Fire Stations "A", "B", "C", "D", "E/F", and "G" in the various reports to council, (bathe closing of four older fire stations (T12 and T26, and also T16 and T31), and the construction of two new stations to replace the four closures, and (cathe re-building of two older fire stations (T29 and E1).

Staff of Fire and Ambulance Services have each individually determined their co-location or new construction costs and have included these estimates in their respective capital budget submissions and committee/council reports.

Re-allocation of Apparatus:

In a report to Committee of the same date, and attached to that report as Attachment "C" is a proposed Apparatus Re-location List. The implementation of this proposed Apparatus Re-location List will be dependent upon a number of factors including:

• a single collective agreement in order to relocate personnel
• one common radio system to provide communications city-wide
• the delivery of new vehicles such as rescue pumpers, and
• the training of staff with the new vehicles and equipment.

Currently, the operational Fire Protection Division is geographically divided into four commands, referred to as North, East, South and West Commands. In order to administrate each command with its communications centre(s) and individual collective agreement(s), the boundaries were drawn along the previous municipal boundaries by combining Scarborough with East York in the east and Etobicoke with York in the west. However, there is a variance from 16 stations in one command to 27 stations in another command. It is our intention to re-align the commands yielding a revised model with more equalized number of fire stations in each of the four commands. The full implementation of this revised model will be dependent upon a single collective agreement and the introduction of a common radio system.

Fleet Maintenance:

KPMG in their report recommend a four-site fleet maintenance facility configuration as including a central light vehicle garage facility located at Emergency Services Headquarters, a central heavy vehicle garage located at the Toronto Hydro Underwriters Road facility, and two heavy vehicle satellite garage facilities, one at East Mall, Etobicoke (Fire Station E12), and another at Bathurst, North York (Fire Station N12).

TFS staff support these recommendations in principle, however much dialogue is still necessary and indeed is still on-going in order to implement the intent of these recommendations. Unfortunately, the Toronto Hydro Underwriters Road facility is not available causing TFS staff to engage in a time-consuming search for an alternate facility.

Human Resource Implications:

In separate reports to: (a) the Community Services Committee at its meeting held on July 14, 1999, and (b) the Policy and Finance Committee at its meeting held on July 20, 1999, and (c) directly to Council at its meeting held on July 27, 1999, the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the Fire Chief in a joint report presented various statistical charts regarding staffing resources in the Fire Services.

In addition, with the earlier introduction of the Incident Command System and more recently the further development of the Incident Management System, it is essential that the senior Incident Commanders are supported by a Fireground Incident Technician/Safety Officer (FIT/SO). Numerous Coroner's inquests have resulted in the recommendation for fire departments to recognize and establish the position of FIT/SO. Indeed, many fire departments across North America have recognized their importance and have introduced and implemented them. Prior to amalgamation, the former cities of Toronto and York had implemented the FIT/SO program.

It is clearly in the best interest of accountability and safety for the amalgamated City of Toronto Fire Services to fully implement this model. The chart contained as Attachment "C" to the main KPMG report from staff of the same date will identify how this can be accomplished as staff are re-assigned due to vehicle changes within TFS. No additional staff are requested or needed to implement this program.

Conclusions:

The management consulting firm of KPMG has concluded its study of fire/ambulance stations, headquarters facilities and fire apparatus. Staff of TFS have reviewed these recommendations, and with the exceptions noted in this report and other reports of the same date to Council, concur with them, and recommend their adoption by City Council.

Contact Name:

Norm Gibbons

Sr. Policy Advisor

397-4315

Bob Crawford

District Chief, Emergency Planning and Research

397-4331

     Alan F. SpeedBarry H. Gutteridge, Commissioner

Fire ChiefWorks and Emergency Services

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