Council Agenda - City of Burbank

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Agenda Item - 7


 

 

BURBANK FIRE DEPARTMENT

Memorandum

 
 

 

DATE: September 26, 2006
TO: Mary J. Alvord, City Manager
FROM:

Tracy Pansini, Fire Chief

by: Jennifer Kaplan, Administrative Officer

SUBJECT:

Agreement for Automatic Exchange of Fire Services


 

PURPOSE

 

The purpose of this report is to request authorization to execute an agreement for the automatic exchange of fire services among the eleven cities that constitute Operational Area C of Los Angeles County.  These cities include Alhambra, Arcadia, Burbank, Glendale, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena.

 

BACKGROUND

 

From February to August 2005, the eleven fire agencies of Area �C� conducted an informal six-month trial to examine the feasibility of changing the way we respond to fire incidents.  The trial involved implementing a system in which fire suppression units from the closest station were dispatched to a fire incident without regard to political jurisdiction, essentially responding as though the eleven cities were a single unified fire agency.   Our goals in implementing the �automatic aid� concept were to provide improved fire protection for each agency, increased firefighter safety; fewer and simpler aid agreements to manage and better utilization of limited fire suppression resources.

 

ANALYSIS

 

The eleven Fire Chiefs deemed this trial successful and agreed to leave the new system in place with minor modifications on an interim basis, pending development of a written agreement.  As the Area �C� Coordinator, the City of Glendale prepared an agreement for this Unified Response Automatic Aid System.  As of this date, the �Agreement for the Automatic Exchange of Fire Services� has been reviewed and informally approved all other Area C fire agencies have with only minor modifications.  It gives some structure to the system and details some of the more important �understandings� that have been established among the eleven cities.

 

The agreement will formalize the existing practice of fire department resources responding to emergencies with the closest appropriate unit without respect to municipal boundaries within the eleven cities that constitute Operational Area C of Los Angeles County.

 

FISCAL IMPACT

           

There will be no fiscal impact to the City on this agreement.  Resources will be provided to, and by, the Fire Department on an automatic and reciprocal basis.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

Staff recommends that the Council approve the resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for the automatic exchange of fire services.

 

EXHIBITS

 

Exhibit A:      Agreement for Automatic Exchange of Fire Services between the City of Alhambra, the City of Arcadia, the City of Burbank, the City if Glendale, the City of Monrovia, the City of Monterey Park, the City of Pasadena, the City of San Gabriel, the City of San Marino, the City of Sierra Madre, and the City of South Pasadena.

 

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