Presentation for IAFC National Fire Service Mutual Aid System Task Force on the

California Fire & Rescue Mutual Aid SystemBy CALCHIEFS President Mike Warren

California Governor’s Office of Emergency ServicesKim Zagaris – State Fire and Rescue Chief

Two Primary California AgreementsTrue Mutual Aid vs Assistance-by-hire

Master Mutual Aid Agreement

– Voluntary Mutual Aid

– Obligatory Mutual Aid

California Fire Assistance Agreement

– Voluntary Mutual Aid period

– Converts to Assistance by Hire

Self-Help

Mutual Aid

Self-Help

Mutual Aid

Basic Tenets of the Plan

Self-HelpThe Responsible Agency will reasonably

exhaust local resources before requesting Mutual Aid.

– This should not preclude requesting Mutual Aid early, when it is apparent the incident will likely exceed local resource capability.

Self-Help

Fire and Rescue officials must preplan emergency operations to ensure efficient utilization of available resources. These preplans may include:

Mutual Threat Zone Planning

– Automatic Aid Agreements

– Plans for utilization of other locally available resources, both public and private

Mutual Aid

No community has resources sufficient to cope with any and all major emergencies for which potential exists.

No party shall be required to unreasonably deplete its own resources in furnishing mutual aid.

Mutual Aid

Enabling Legislation

Tort Liability

Discretionary Immunity

Comfort to Locally Elected Officials

Worker Comp

No cost to participate

Reimbursement under most circumstances

Mutual AidThe responsible local official in whose

jurisdiction an incident has occurred shall remain in charge at such an incident.

Agencies receiving mutual aid are responsible for logistical support to all mutual aid personnel and equipment received.

Plan Limitations

Must be supplemented by more detailed plans at the local, operational area, and regional levels

Truly fulfilling the incident’s resource requests requires ongoing commitment on the part of local agencies to adequately train and equip their personnel, and respond capable apparatus.

Inc ident C om m ander

Loca l F ire C h ie f/D ispatch C enter

O perationa l A rea C oord inator/O p A rea D ispatch C enter

R egion C oord inator/R eg iona l D ispatch C enter

Ind iv idua l R esource

Loca l F ire C h ie f/D ispatch C enter

O perationa l A rea C oord inator/O p A rea D ispatch C enter

R egion C oord inator/R eg iona l D ispatch C enter

S ta te O ES F ire & R escue C oord inator/S ta te D ispatch C enter

How the Fire & Rescue Mutual Aid System Works

Regions and Operational Areas 65 Operational Areas- Generally same as

counties (exception: Los Angeles County & the Lake Tahoe Basin); Op Area Fire & Rescue Coordinator is elected by County Fire Chiefs Association for three-year term

6 Regions - Made up of 6 to 16 op areas; Region Fire & Rescue Coordinator is elected by the Op Area Coordinators for three-year term

They are responsible for maintaining,updating, and activating the Regionand Op Area Plan.

California Fire Resources Inventory System

An annually-updated inventory of all fire and rescue personnel, apparatus and equipment in California

Now also captures qualified Overhead personnel information

California Fire & Rescue Mutual Aid System Resources

Equipment– Engines, Trucks, EMS Units, Haz Mat Units,

US&R & Fire Boats, Swift Water Rescue Units, Air & Lighting Units, Portable Pumps, Bulldozers, Air Craft,

Personnel– Incident Command Teams– Incident Overhead (ICS Qualified and Specialized)

California Fire & Rescue Mutual Aid System Resources

3556 Type I Engines

882 Type II Engines

1243 Type III Engines

306 Type IV Engines

5987 Total Engines

California can mobilize 20% to 25% of there resources at anytime which is 200 – 250 Strike Teams/Task Forces

California Fire & Rescue Mutual Aid System Resources

314 Type I ALS Medical Non Transport

353 Type II BLS Medical Non Transport

464 Type I ALS Medical Transport

88 Type II BLS Medical Transport

10114 EMT I

791 EMT II

4898 Paramedics There are 2600 Ambulance in California both Public and Private; 27% of those are fire based

114 Type I Haz-Mat Teams

30 Type II Haz-Mat Teams30 Teams are: Industrial Brigade (IB), Military Fire Dept (MFD), College Campus (CC), State Resource (SR), Federal Resource (FR).

1743 Haz-Mat Technician

1415 Haz-Mat Specialist

California Fire & Rescue Mutual Aid System Resources

California State OES Resources110 OES Engines 12 Water Tenders 6 OES Communication Units 10 OES Swift Water Caches 8 US&R Task Forces (Local/State/Federal)

California Fire Assistance Agreement

• Actual Cost Reimbursement or Minimum Base Rate

• 12-hour “Free” Period *

• Standard Staffing (ICS Typing)

• FEMA Equipment Rates

Interstate Civil Defense and Disaster Compact (Created in 1950)

Sub-Agreement to provide interstate assistance between the California and five western states:

– Arizona– California– Idaho– Nevada– Oregon– Washington

Emergency Management Assistance Compact (Created in 1992)

EMAC is administered by the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA)

- AB-832 Chaptered September 13, 2005- Sunsets March 1, 2007

ICDDC

• No disaster required

• International agreements possible

• Tort liability under sending states laws

EMAC

Disaster declaration required

No provision for international aid

Tort liability under receiving states laws

Some Differences between ICDDC and EMAC

California OES has Multi-Agency Coordination Experience

Southern California Fire Siege

- 739,597 acres burned

- 3631 homes destroyed- 24 Lives Lost including 1 Firefighter- 1160 Local Govt. Engines Mobilized

Northridge Earthquake- 57 killed; 9,158 injured- $20 billion damage

LA Civil Unrest- 53 killed; 2,383 injured- $469 million damage

East Bay Hills Fire- 25 Killed- Destroyed 3,000 dwellings

Incident Response Coordination OES Tasking State Agencies – California OES Tasking State Agencies – California

National Guard – MAFFS Program and National Guard – MAFFS Program and HelicoptersHelicopters

Incident Response Coordination Local Government Aviation SupportLocal Government Aviation Support

Old Topanaga Fire 1993180 Strike Team of Engines Committed within 24 hours

Incident Base Stagging Area

Oakland Hills Fire 199188 Strike Team of Engines Committed within 16 hours

This is 36 Strike Teams for morning Shift

OES deployed engine strike teams and overhead to the following States

- Arizona - Nevada- California - Oregon- Colorado - South Dakota- Idaho - Washington- New Mexico - Wyoming- Montana

Out of State Responses for 2002

2003 Southern California 2003 Southern California Resources MobilizedResources Mobilized

• Over 15,000 personnel• 240 Engine Strike Teams & Task Forces• 1,160 Local Government Fire Engines• 306 CDF Fire Engines • 102 OES Fire Engines• 5 OES Water Tenders • 190 Federal Fire Engines • 120 Out of State Engines 50 engines from Arizona, Nevada and 20 from Oregon

• 43 Air Tankers • 105 Helicopters

Questions?

Thank You