Belleville Fire & Emergency Services Department

Key Initiatives

Fire Master Plan development – $125,000

The City’s Strategic Plan identifies Community Health, Safety and Security as one of the main Strategic Themes of the Corporation. Fire and
Emergency Services strives to provide professional public safety initiatives to meet the needs of our citizens, businesses and visitors. For 2024
the key strategic initiative for providing public safety is the review, acceptance and implementation of recommendations found in the fire master
plan.

This fire master plan is intended to provide strategic vision for the next five to ten years in providing fire and emergency services for the City of
Belleville. It will identify a place in time, and the path forward to achieving operational excellence, identify what’s working now, what needs
improvement, all with a basis on community risk, financial consideration, industry best practice, and legislated requirements.

• Timeline: A fire master plan is a multi-year document. It is intended to release the document for Council review and acceptance in early 2024,
  with direction for staff to implement recommendations that meet the needs and circumstances of the community over a number of years.
• Strategic Plan Theme: Community Health, Safety and Security
• Budget: Initial plan development – 2022 Operating Budget Issue D4-9 ($125,000). Implementation – Multi-year budget approvals to be
  determined.

Goals & Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Strategic

Goals of the department include: continued improvement and enhancement of the departments ability to provide emergency response, public
education and emergency preparedness.

KPI’s include reduction in response times, reduction in fire related injury/deaths, improvement in effective response force in both urban and rural areas. Additional goals include reviewing and determining location of Fire Station #2 replacement in order to achieve operational readiness, and optimal response times.

• Key Performance Measurement – Council approval Fire Master Plan in 2024. Implementation beginning in 2025, with completion of initiatives
  as outlined in the Fire Master Plan summary of observations and recommendations timetable.

Operational

Departments will continue to develop operational initiatives throughout the year and work with the City’s Departmental Performance Standards Committee to develop SMART Key Performance Indicators to properly evaluate performance and provide reliable, relevant, and accountable performance metrics to the community.

Performance

Department Plans and their performance reports were first introduced in the 2024 Operating Budget. Performance will be published in 2024 once sufficient data is collected to accurately assess the department’s performance and provide meaningful insights.

Budget

The proposed 2024 Fire & Emergency Services Operating Budget is $15,401,400 in gross expenditures and $14,873,500 in net expenditures
supported from the general tax levy. This represents a 10.74% increase over the 2023 budget.

The increase in the 2024 budgeted expenditures is largely attributable to the annualization of four (4) Platoon Chiefs hired in 2023, the addition of four (4) fire suppression staff, and the contract services added for NG911 Municipal Fire dispatch services required. Revenue losses are largely due to the loss of dispatch revenues from other municipalities.

Achievements

2023

• Draft Fire Master Plan complete, rollout in 2024.
• Community Risk Assessment completed.
• Two urban pumpers replaced for a budgeted $2.1 million.
• Closure of fire dispatch negotiated with career firefighters (Local 497).
• Collective agreement with volunteer firefighters negotiated (CLAC 920).
• Community Emergency Plan updated.

Team

The Fire & Emergency Services department is comprised of 126 highly skilled staff who are responsible for providing a wide range of programs and services including public fire & safety education, fire prevention, investigation and enforcement and fire suppression:

• Fire Chief/Director – Dan Smith
• Fire Services – Fire Administration, Urban Fire, Rural Fire (124)
• Emergency Management – Business Continuity & Emergency Management Planning Coordinator (1)

Responsibilities

Fire and Emergency Services provides public safety to the citizens, businesses and visitors of the City. These services include programs such as fire prevention/public education, fire and emergency response and emergency management/business continuity. The department provides these services through two distinct programs of Fire Services and Emergency Management.

Fire Services is a composite department made up of both fulltime and volunteer (paid on call) firefighters. The department also operates a robust fire inspection and public education program as well as conducts fire investigations under the authority of the Office of the Fire Marshal.

The Emergency Management program operates under the provincial Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. This program also conducts public outreach through public education in order to prepare, prevent and mitigate community disasters. Fire and Emergency Services operates on three pillars; public education, inspection/enforcement and emergency response in order to keep our City safe.

• Internal stakeholders: Council, City departmental staff
• External stakeholders: Federal and Provincial Government, allied agencies (Belleville Police, Hastings/Quinte EMS), service providers, local
  businesses, mutual-aid fire service partners, citizens, visitors.

Governance

Municipal guiding documents and plans that govern the work of Fire & Emergency Services:

• Fire Protection & Prevention Act – Provides legislated powers, and responsibilities for municipalities to provide fire protection programs.
• Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act – Provides legislated requirements for emergency management program.
• Ontario Regulation 213/07: Fire Code – Provides provincial requirements for fire safety in all building types.

Trends

Legislative/Governance

• Community Risk Assessments requirements for all municipalities (complete).
• Firefighter certification with requirement rollout dates of 2026 and 2028. Fire Management working through departmental requirements and
  creating training program to achieve compliance.

Economic

• Viability and financial sustainability of core emergency services. Goal of utilizing results of fire master plan to determine sustainable
  emergency response and effectively utilizing resources across the municipality.

Municipal Budget

• The department had pre-approved budgetary items in the 2024 budget for staffing levels. These positions were negotiated with the closure
  of fire dispatch in 2024.

Technology

• Many opportunities for Information Technology advancement and new technology deployment to enhance internal efficiencies and external
  engagement and efficiency in service delivery