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CENTRAL CALAVERAS FIRE & RESCUE
PROTECTION DISTRICT
P.O. Box 2, 19927 Jesus
Maria Road, Mountain Ranch, Ca 95246 Office: (209) 754-4330 FAX: (209) 754-3906 www.centralcalaverasfire.org |
The Plan
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
.
THE COMMUNITY
PROFILE
.
POPULATION
AGE
.
LAND AND REAL ESTATE
CHARACTERISTICS
ECONOMIC
CHARACTERISTICS
COMMUNITY
RISKS
..
INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
..
WHY
WE ARE HERE
.
MISSION
& PRINCIPLE OF THE CENTRAL CALAVERAS FIRE & RESCUE PROTECTION
DISTRICT
.
THE CENTRAL
CALAVERAS FIRE & RESCUE PROTECTION DISTRICT
..
THE
PAST
THE
PRESENT
SECTION 1: WHERE THE
DEPARTMENT WANTS TO BE: GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
.
GOAL
ONE
..
GOAL
TWO
.
GOAL
THREE
.
GOAL
FOUR
GOAL
FIVE
.
GOAL
SIX
GOAL
SEVEN
.
EVALUATION OF
EXISTING INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS
REFERENCES
Our Mission
Protect & enhance the well-being of our
residents, businesses, customers and partners.
We will accomplish this by
Delivering exceptional service and compassionate solutions as a cohesive team with dedication, vigilance and pride.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection
District is charged with the protecting life, property and the environment
within the boundaries of Mountain Ranch, Sheep Ranch, Glencoe, Rail Road Flat
and Eagle Ridge Ranch/ Airport regions of Calaveras County. Past planning by
the county established many construction projects within the district including
the creation of new facilities and renovations of existing facilities. The
result is great improvements in the level of engineering features to provide a
safer environment for the citizens of our community. These new developments in
building design and construction, coupled with new technology and equipment
will force our district to constantly evaluate our methods of delivering
emergency services to our community.
A
strategic plan developed by the Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection
District provides a foundation to meet that challenge. The plan establishes
priorities, identifies goals and develops fiscal options for emergency services
through the next five years. It is a living document that will be constantly
evaluated, re-examined, and updated as needed. The department is prepared and
postured for these challenges and opportunities. This document is intended to
be used as a planning tool to ensure that our department will provide current
and future emergency services in a fiscally sound manner. The 2007-2012 Central
Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District Strategic Plan represents the
efforts of many people in evaluating our department and its mission,
anticipating the future in terms of community needs and resources required to
meet those needs, and in formulating a plan to provide comprehensive cost
effective services to our customers the citizens of Central Calaveras Fire
& Rescue.
It will serve to inform the members of our
department of the preparation for the future, while at the same time serving as
a foundation document for informing policymakers and for addressing the budget
process.
Section one lists the goals and objectives that the
fire district believes are necessary to meet the future service demands of the
community. Performance measures are utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of
the districts efforts. The districts goals are to:
- Minimize
death, injury and property losses due to fire.
- Minimize
death and suffering for people experiencing sudden illness, accidents, or
injury.
- Minimize
death, injury and property losses due to hazardous material, severe
weather conditions and natural or manmade disasters.
- Provide
sufficient emergency response services in a fiscally responsible manner.
- Maximize
employee satisfaction.
- Accurately
identify community expectations and evaluate community satisfaction.
In order to ensure that a contemporary strategy is
used in the future, the Strategic Plan will be evaluated and revised on a
5-year basis.
COMMUNITY PROFILE
POPULATION
Four distinct community clusters serve a scattered
and diverse population of ranchers, organic farmers, vintners, entrepreneurs,
cottage industries, artists, craftspeople, public sector employees and retired
people. Estimated weekday population of 5,000 in CCFRPD. Calaveras County
itself consists of 45,939 residents and growing, with a positive potential
growth forecasted for the future.
AGE
Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection
District serves a large retired and elderly population within the district for
which it serves. The only group that fluctuates in age is our visitors to
Calaveras County, which is a diverse population.
LAND AND REAL ESTATE CHARACTERISTICS
The Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection
District encompasses approximately 200 square miles in size in the Southern
Mines area of the Mother Lode Region of the Gold Country in Calaveras County
situated in the western foothills area of the Sierra Nevada centered on:
Township 5N, Range 13E, MDBM. Calaveras Countys land area is 1,024 square
miles or 652,920 acres in size. CCFRPDs majority of real property is
residential. Residential property is also associated with the largest fire
losses in the fire district. Established in 1847, Rail Road Flat is perhaps the
oldest settlement in Calaveras County and wasnt named for a railroad.
Economic Characteristics
The fire districts rate of job growth is projected
to be constant over the next decade.
Community Risk
Although our Department is a combination (Paid & Volunteer) full service emergency response department, a recent risk analysis has shown the predominate risk in the Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District to the low and moderate categories, with the exception of Wild land Fire Incidents. Emergency medical calls, which fall in the low risk category, are the predominant workload for our agency. In the fire categories, the predominate risk is the one and two family structures, which are considered a moderate risk. Calaveras County is considered to be a High Wild land Fire Impact Area in the high-risk category during the months of June through October. There are 253 named roads within the fire district. The elevation range is from 760 feet to 3626 feet, from boulder-strewn river canyons to windy lava caps. Between the extremes are located pine forests, scrub oak chaparral woodlands, and large open grasslands. The number and type of apparatus is determined by fire flow and travel times to our fire incidents.
INTRODUCTION /BACKGROUND
Why We Are Here
Each year throughout the United States, fires kill
thousands, injure hundreds of thousands and destroy billions of dollars in
property. Heart Attacks, car accidents, hazardous materials spills, acts of
terrorism and catastrophes such as wild fires, earthquakes, flooding, and
tornadoes cause other deaths, injury and destruction. The mission of Central
Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District is to provide programs designed
to protect the lives and property of the inhabitants and visitors of Calaveras
County from the adverse effects of fires, medical emergencies, and exposure to
hazardous conditions created by man or nature.
Mission & Principle of the Central Calaveras
Fire & Rescue Protection District
To support our Mission, our department has
prioritized four key organizational principles. They are:
Support a safe, healthy and diverse workplace-
Establish and maintain the highest quality fire
suppression program-
Establish a strong community relations program,
particularly in the area of public education and fire prevention-
Promote lifelong learning with an emphasis for high
professional standards and higher education-
The Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District
The Past
Fire protection was first provided in 1969 a year
after a structure fire on Christmas morning in 1968 at the Rodiesino Building,
which housed Senders Market. The fire started in Opas Smokehouse, an adjacent
bar and grill, and quickly engulfed the old landmark building. Ironically, a
petition to form a volunteer fire department in Mountain Ranch was among the
items lost at Opas. Various fundraisers were held in order to purchase a
surplus Dodge fire truck with 150-gallon water tank for $150.00 A fire station
was constructed on Washington street adjacent to the Mountain Ranch Town Hall
which today is the districts station three.
The Present
Gone is the boot strap volunteer group supported
by fundraisers and in its place is a truly professional organization. Half of
the districts funding is derived from Calaveras County general property tax
and half from a special tax of $40.00 per parcel which was voted on by members
of the district. The collection of this tax has enabled the fire district to
purchase the fire apparatus and equipment that it now has. Todays fire agency
was formed July 1, 1999 after the mergers of Mountain Ranch Fire Protection
District and Glencoe-Rail Road Flat Fire Protection Districts. Then on July 1,
2001 Sheep Ranch Fire Protection District and Calaveras County contracted
Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District for coverage in the
unprotected designated areas of the county for fire protection/ems services.
CCFRPD continues to meet the constant demand for our services. Central
Calaveras Fire is a combination- paid/volunteer fire protection district
staffed with two paid firefighter/engineers, a paid fire chief, and a part-time
paid administrative assistant, one volunteer company officer and fourteen
volunteer firefighters/emergency medical services personnel. The district
expects to respond to over 400 emergency incidents this year, again, which is
typical for fire districts in size similar to that of Central Calaveras Fire &
Rescue Protection District. The Fire District currently operates two-1000 GPM
Pumpers, tthree-500 GPM Pumpers, two-rescue squads, one-3000 gallon water
tender, two-fast attack (patrol) units and a command vehicle and has an ISO
Rating of 8 for residential property and ISO-9 for commercial property. The
districts estimated annual Operating/Maintenance Budget is $427,000.00 for
2006-2007.
SECTION 1: WHERE THE FIRE DISTRICT WANT TO BE-GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Goal One-Minimize death, injury and property losses
due to fire.
The primary CCFRPD priority is life safety, and our
fire district and its members make every effort to prevent the loss of life and
injury within the community. The fire district is an organized, trained and
equipped to provide aggressive, offensive firefighting & rescue tactics.
Objective 1: Limit fire-related fatalities and
injuries within our community.
Over the past three years the CCFRPD has had an
average of 2 injuries per year and 1 death per year. This information is
indicative of an extremely successful program.
Performance Measures:
1. Assure that the established Department Response
Objectives are met: The district will strive to arrive and
intercede prior to the flashover stage of a structure fire. Fires that reach
flashover are responsible for a disproportionate number of fire deaths and
large fire loss. This measure is crucial to maintaining a reasonable level of
risk within the fire district. The time frame requires that intervention take
place eight to ten minutes after the fire department receives initial
notification.
2. Establish a minimum standard of personnel
readiness: All companies will be required to perform randomly
assigned company readiness evolutions annually. The evolutions will be based
upon standards established by the National Fire Protection Assn. (NFPA) 1410,
Standard on Training for Initial Fire Attack. All companies will be required to
complete the evolutions within the timeframes established by our department.
3. All firefighters will complete a minimum of
24-hrs of fire suppression training per year. This training
will include an average of two scheduled hours of suppression training per
month. (NFPA 1500)
4. All firefighters will be capable of performing
the standards for Fire Fighter-II, and IAW-Senate Bill 1207.
Objective 2: Limit fireground injuries to
firefighters.
Because firefighter injuries are closely related to improper attitude, equipment, practices and conditioning; the maintenance and continuation of an effective Risk Management Plan become essential.
Performance Measure:
1. Limit fireground injuries to less than 50% the
nationwide average.
Over the past four years the department has had no fireground injuries. The national average for 1997 was 15.7 fireground injuries, for similar population served.
Ensure all firefighters meet and maintain the established physical performance and fitness standards. This will be accomplished through annual performance and fitness assessments, mandatory compliance with the standards and inclusion of performance and fitness testing as part of the annual Employee Evaluations.
Perform an annual review of the Risk Management Plan, for the purpose of identifying and implementing risk control measures.
Accomplish and maintain total compliance with our NFPA 1500 Action Plan.
Objective 4: Limit fire loses in the community.
Direct fire loss is utilized to measure the overall effectiveness of the Public Education, Fire Prevention and Fire suppression programs.
Performance Measure:
Reduce direct community fire loss to less than 50% of the national average.
Since July 1, 1999 CCFRPD has experienced an average annual direct structural fire loss of $2.63, which equates less than one dollar per capita. The national average is $31.85 per capita.
To maintain offensive firefighting tactics, the fire department will strive to arrive and intercede prior to flashover stage of a structure fire. The fire department will strive to meet a total response time of 5-9 minutes for the first company and 10-18 minutes for the remainder of responding apparatus. This goal will be documented for all emergency responses.
Develop and maintain fire suppression training that meets nationally accepted standards for individual and company performance and annually evaluates performance of those standards.
Goal Two-Minimize death and suffering for people
experiencing sudden illness, accidents, or injury.
When people suffer from sudden severe illness, have an accident or are injured in any way, the emergency medical services (EMS) system attempts to intercede before further injury or death results. A timely and appropriate EMS response reduces deaths, pain and suffering, hospital stays and medical cost.
Objective 1: Provide timely emergency medical and
rescue services.
From an emergency medical perspective, a six-minute time frame is used as a means of service level measurement, as brain damage is likely to occur in cardiac arrest patients after six minutes with diminished oxygen flow to the brain. In addition, external defibrillation measures provide the greatest chance of survival if utilized within ten minutes of the onset of cardiac arrest.
Performance Measures:
Provide Emergency medical service within 5-minute (total response time) in 90% of all calls requiring emergency medical assistance.
The fire department will provide all citizens with initial life-saving care utilizing the EMD. The fire department will strive to arrive and provide emergency medical service within 5-minutes total response time for 90% of all emergency medical calls. In year 2001 the fire district demonstrated a 5-minute total response time on 85% of all emergency responses.
Objective 2: Advance firefighter medical education to
encompass a broad scope of capabilities.
Provide an increased level of knowledge, skills and abilities to all firefighter/EMTs to enable our members to deliver a satisfactory level of care on scene or en-route to the hospital that was previously only available from the ambulance crews.
Performance Measure:
1. Incorporate items into our medical training/education program. Deliver this training to all Department firefighter/EMTs.
Goal Three- Minimize death, injury and property losses
due to hazardous material, severe weather conditions and natural or man-made
disasters.
By definition, a disaster is a large-scale event that exceeds the type and amount of resources typically available to cope with an emergency. Public awareness, planning and preparation are key factors in minimizing the destructive effects of a disaster.
Objective 1: Maintain a current disaster plan for the
CCFRPD and practice using the plan.
Because disasters are not routine and come in different shapes and sizes, an effective all-risk plan of action must be established and practiced. The plan should incorporate mitigation, public awareness, community involvement, emergency action procedures, resources acquisition and recovery steps.
Performance Measure:
1. Provide four disaster exercises for the fire district each year.
A major part of preparedness is accomplished through disaster training. Training exercises based on different types of disasters helps improve emergency response procedures, creates community involvement, allow responders to enhance their skills, and point out flaws in the Emergency Operations Plan.
Objective 2: Provide an adequate early warning
notification system to all portions of the community.
Early warning and notification of a disaster to all portions of the community is a primary component of disaster preparedness. To assure system reliability and proper signaling distribution, testing and maintenance is performed regularly and periodic upgrades may be required.
Performance Measure:
1. All voice/siren speakers necessary to meet established audible requirements would be maintained and tested on a monthly basis, by Calaveras County Office of Emergency Services.
Goal Four-Provide a fully staffed engine company to all
areas of the fire district.
In regards to the delivery of emergency services, the Commission on Fire Accreditation has determined that three key elements affect life safety and the economic impact of a community. They include distribution and concentration of responding personnel and equipment, proper staffing. Distribution concerns the station and resource locations needed to assure rapid response deployment to minimize and terminate emergencies. Concentration is the spacing of multiple resources arranged so that an initial and effective response force can arrive on-scene within sufficient time frames to stop the escalation of an emergency. Staffing levels are the minimum numbers of personnel assigned to each company to initiate the critical task that are outlined in the CCFRPD Standard of Response Coverage document. The goal of the CCFRPD is to address all three key elements as part of our response objectives to all areas of the district.
Objective 1: All fire stations will meet the distribution and concentration requirements of our department Standard of Response Coverage document.
Performance Measures:
1. Assure that all fire stations are located to allow a maximum total response time of the first due company of no longer than 5-9 minutes 90% of the time and 10-18 minutes 90% of the time for the next responding companies.
Objective 2: All companies will have the minimum number of personnel assigned to initiate the critical task that are outlined in the CCFRPD Standard of Response Coverage document.
Performance Measures:
1. All Engine Companies will be staffed with a minimum of three personnel. This will include a company officer or acting company officer, driver operator/engineer, and one firefighter/hoseman. Any of these personnel may be ems first responder or EMT qualified. however the responsibilities to carry out the critical task for fire suppression engine companies will remain constant.
Goal Five-Provide sufficient emergency response
services in a fiscally responsible manner.
The CCFRPD believes in the prudent disbursement of public funds. We will strive to provide the fire district with sufficient resources in a cost-effective manner. The Department will continue to evaluate the efficiency and cost effectiveness of alternative service delivery methods.
Objective 1: Maintain cost effective services in terms of population and value of property protected.
The Department will continue to evaluate the community expectations and emergency service provided as compared to the associated cost of that service.
Performance Measures:
1. Keep fire district costs to under $95 per capita, a final build out.
The Fire District has kept its average cost per capita relatively low relatively at $83.37 over the past four years. A survey of surrounding districts indicates an average cost of $95.23 per capita. The Departments recommendation allows for service increases required by anticipated growth while remaining below the average cost per capita of surrounding fire districts.
2. Keep Fire Department cost under $1.00 per $1,000 value protected.
This performance measure is relatively new to jurisdictions in California. Although the $1.00 per $1,000 may need to be adjusted as more jurisdictions use this measurement, this measure provides the Department with an additional method to compare costs with other fire districts. Currently the fire district cost per $1,000 value protected is $0.49.
Objective 2: Maintain sufficient resources to assure
reliable and timely emergency response to all portions of the fire district.
To assure a timely response the fire company assigned to the respective fire area must be available to respond. Unavailability of a fire company is typically due to assignment to another call, lack of a full crew due to staffing shortage, training and equipment maintenance or repair. Unavailability of the first-due fire company results in assignment of the next available fire company and the corresponding response time increases.
Performance Measure:
1. Maintain a reliability factor of greater than 80% for the first due company within their assigned fire area.
The reliability factor identifies the percent of time a first due fire company is available to respond to an emergency incident within its assigned fire area.
Goal Six-Maximize employee satisfaction.
The most valuable resource of any organization is its employees. To maximize employee satisfaction the Department must provide and encourage avenues for employee input; training programs that reflect job requirements, establish a safe work environment by ensuring facilities, apparatus and equipment is of the highest quality and are appropriate for the task required; provide wellness, fitness and employee assistance programs that enhance the health of individual members and their families; and provide for employee recognition.
Objective 1: Provide and encourage avenues for employee
input & adhere to adopted agency Firefighter Bill of Rights established
by districts fire chief 11/16/2002.
Performance Measures:
1. Ensure all members have the opportunity to be involved in the annual budget process for the fire district.
2. Maintain the Fire Chiefs open door policy.
3. Encourage all members to use the Fire Districts Suggestion Program.
Objective 2: Provide training programs reflective of
job requirements.
Performance Measures:
1. Maintain all core documents for all positions on the Department.
2. Ensure training classes and curriculums meet the job requirements of each position.
Monitor the effectiveness of the training curriculum through analysis of yearly performance evaluations (company performance evaluations, etc.), national standards, and employee surveys. The analysis for each of these will be done each December, prior to development of the annual training schedule.
3. Maintain and enhance all existing educational programs utilized for career development.
This will include the following classes/courses, which are currently offered on a priority basis:
Education reimbursement and tuition assistance-
Courses provided by CDF/State Fire Training, National Fire Academy and California Specialized Training Institute-
Conferences, workshops, and seminars-
Objective 3: Establish a safe work environment by
ensuring facilities; apparatus and equipment are of the highest standards.
Performance Measures:
1.Ensure that criteria for all department facilities, apparatus and equipment meet NFPA standards. The criterion will be evaluated semi-annually by our Fire Fighter Safety & Health Committee.
2. Support on-going research and development to ensure our facilities; apparatus and equipment are of the highest standards.
3. Continue to reduce the amount and severity of on-duty injuries through effective risk management and enhanced safety practices.
Objective 4: Provide wellness, fitness and employee
assistance programs that enhance the health of individual members and their
families.
Performance Measures:
1. Maintain an effective Employee Assistance Program for members of the department and their families.
2. Provide an effective fitness and wellness program for members of the Department. This program will include, but not limited to fitness and wellness education (nutrition, stress management, etc.) through County Health; proper fitness equipment and physical exams.
Objective 5: Maintain the employee recognition program.
Performance Measures:
1. Maintain forms and procedures for the recognition of exceptional employee performance.
2. Participate in the annual CCFRPD Fire fighter of The Year Award
This will include the annual awards/appreciation dinner.
Goal Seven-Accurately identify community expectations;
evaluate community satisfaction.
We realize we must accurately identify community expectations if we are to provide an adequate level of emergency service. We must also provide a means to measure the communitys level of satisfaction with a high satisfaction rating.
Objective 1: Develop a method to determine community
expectations and satisfaction.
Citizen surveys provide valuable information about public expectations and experiences. By being able to deliver quality services in a timely manner, we believe we will maintain a high satisfaction rating.
Performance Measures:
1. Develop assorted surveys to identify community expectations and to evaluate community satisfaction. Maintain a 95% approval rating by citizens contacted through the surveys.
Prepare a paper-based survey to determine citizen expectation and measure satisfaction regarding to services delivered by the Department.
Conduct annual telephone surveys of a random population of CCFRPD citizens to determine service expectations and measure satisfaction level.
Analyze data gathered from all surveys and implement changes if applicable or needed.
EVALUATION OF EXISTING INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS
Six interagency agreements that have a significant impact on the mission of the CCFRPD.
The Mutual Aid Agreements between Fire Districts or Fire Departments:
Ebbets Pass
Mokelumne Hill
San Andreas
West Point
CDF/Cal-Fire
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
The purpose of each agreement is clearly defined within the terms of each agreement. As part of the Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District Strategic Plan, the effectiveness of interagency agreements is evaluated and alternatives to improve service delivery are examined. Interagency relationships have provided the department and the Community with cost effective methods of maintaining adequate emergency service.
REFERENCES
Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District (2002) (2003) (2004) (2005) (2006) Annual Response Report, Central Calaveras Fire & Rescue Protection District, Mountain Ranch, California
Firehouse Magazines 2006 National Run Survey, (Parts:
I-IV)
Calaveras Community Television, Inc. (CCTV Channel-7), 2006
Calaveras Countys 2006/2007 Calaveras Activities Guide, Calaveras Visitors Bureau
California State Firefighters Association, The California Fire Service Magazine, Vol. 13-No.7, Sacramento, Ca.
Section: Fire Department In Focus, p. 10-11, (July 2002 Ed.)
Commission on Fire Accreditation International, (1999). Fire & Emergency Service Manual, (5th Ed.). Fairfax, Virginia: Commission on Fire Accreditation International, section 3, p. 43, 1999.
Commission on Fire Accreditation International, (1999). Fire & Emergency Service Manual, (5th Ed.), Fairfax, Virginia:
Commission on Fire Accreditation International, section 3, p. 39-46, 1999
Karter, M., & LeBlanc, P., (1998, November/December). U.S. Firefighter Injuries, NFPA Journal, p. 52.
National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 1410 Standard on Training for Initial Fire Attack, (1995 Ed.)
National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 1500 Fire Department Occupational Safety & Health Program, (1997 Ed.).
Robert L. Gill, Fire Chief
03/27/2007