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Fire Department
DATE: May 5, 2015
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Kurt Norwood, Fire Chief
By: Maria Lourdes A. Taylor, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT: AGREEMENT FOR AUTOMATIC AID OF BATALLION CHIEF SERVICES
BY AND AMONG THE CITY OF ARCADIA, THE CITY OF MONROVIA,
AND THE CITY SIERRA MADRE
Recommendation: Approve
SUMMARY
The City of Sierra Madre's Director of Public Safety has approached the Fire Chiefs of
Arcadia and Monrovia on providing automatic aid for Battalion Chief responses strictly
for incident management emergency response within the City of Sierra Madre. Arcadia
and Monrovia Fire Departments currently provide Battalion Chief coverage to the City of
Sierra Madre when requested and when available, but without any compensation and
no automatic aid agreement is currently in place.
To formalize the Battalion Chief services with Sierra Madre in order for the emergency
responses to be automatic in nature, and to outline the cost reimbursement for providing
such a service, it is recommended that the City Council approve the agreement for
automatic aid of Battalion Chief Services among the Cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, and
Sierra Madre. A copy of the Agreement for Automatic Aid is attached to this staff report.
BACKGROUND
The Sierra Madre Fire Department is a combination paid and volunteer Fire Department
and they occasionally request the assistance of a Battalion Chief from either Arcadia or
Monrovia to ensure the proper management of an emergency if the Sierra Madre
Battalion Chiefs, who are volunteers, are unavailable. Lack of response from Sierra
Madre's volunteer Battalion Chiefs is becoming more common and placing the Fire
Department, firefighters, and citizens in situations where emergency incidents could be
delayed or without safe and professional incident management. Arcadia and Monrovia
Fire Departments currently provide Battalion Chief responses on a mutual aid request
Agreement for Automatic Aid of Battalion Chief Services to Sierra Madre
May 5, 2015
Page 2 of 3
and when available, but without any compensation. Sierra Madre is the only City in the
region that lacks an automatic aid agreement with neighboring cities because they do
not have the capability of reciprocating like service to neighboring jurisdictions due to
their paid /volunteer structure.
Due to Sierra Madre's existing Fire staffing structure, the Sierra Madre Director of Public
Safety has expressed a strong interest in formalizing the Battalion Chief response
relationship through automatic aid assistance with Arcadia and Monrovia Fire
Departments, to where a Battalion Chief would be dispatched automatically without the
delay of a mutual aid request. Essentially, instead of Sierra Madre having to call and
request a Battalion Chief for incident management, depending on availability and
proximity, a Battalion Chief in Arcadia or Monrovia will be automatically dispatched to
Sierra Madre when the incident requires a Battalion Chief response. This will expedite
Battalion Chief incident responses, enhance firefighter safety, and decrease potential
losses associated with fires.
DISCUSSION
Both the Arcadia and Monrovia Fire Departments have agreed in principle to provide
Battalion Chief coverage for incident management on an automatic aid basis in
exchange for being reimbursed for the time the Battalion Chief spends in assisting
Sierra Madre on the incident. As such, to formalize the arrangement, Sierra Madre has
drawn an agreement for such service solely for providing incident management
emergency response by either Arcadia or Monrovia on a cost reimbursement basis.
This agreement, as attached, has been reviewed with language approved by each of
the City Attorneys. The hourly fee will be $85 for either City, which is based on salary,
benefits, overhead, vehicle, fuel, and other incidentals. Liability coverage for incident
management would be the same as it is today — effectively every department is
responsible for the work of their own employees and the main exposure, if any, lies with
the City in which the incident takes place.
The Agreement shall become effective upon the execution by the respective City
Managers for each City. The Agreement will automatically renew from year to year, and
the hourly fee will be re- evaluated every two years from the effective date of the
agreement to ensure the fees are accurate for cost recovery. Either of the Cities can
elect to terminate its participation as outlined in the Agreement. The Arcadia and
Monrovia Fire Departments' Battalion Chiefs' ability to respond to Sierra Madre's
automatic aid service will depend upon any existing emergency conditions within each
City and the availability of their resources. As with other automatic aid agreements,
Arcadia personnel will always give incidents in Arcadia first priority and will not be
dispatched outside of the jurisdiction unless adequate coverage can be maintained
within the City.
Agreement for Automatic Aid of Battalion Chief Services to Sierra Madre
May 5, 2015
Page 3 of 3
Overall, the automatic aid arrangement set by the agreement will enhance incident
management in the City of Sierra Madre, will help recover some expenses the City
presently incurs, and will ease regional response efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no significant administration or operational drawbacks for Arcadia. As a
reference, in Fiscal Year 2013 -14, if this proposed agreement were in place, a Battalion
Chief would have been dispatched approximately 100 times within the City of Sierra
Madre, with less than 10 of those requiring a Battalion Chief for an extended period of
time. Assuming Arcadia is dispatched in half of those incidents, there would be about
50 call -outs and less than 5 extended calls per year. The associated revenue would be
less than $7,500 per year.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve the Agreement for Automatic Aid of
Battalion Chief Services by and among the City of Arcadia, the City of Monrovia, and
the City of Sierra Madre.
Approved:
Dominic Lazzar
City Manager
Attachment: Agreement for Automatic Aid of Battalion Chief Services By and Among
the City of Arcadia, and the City of Monrovia and the City of Sierra Madre
ATTACHMENT
AGREEMENT FOR AUTOMATIC AID OF
BATTALION CHIEF SERVICES
By and Among
THE CITY OF ARCADIA AND THE CITY OF MONROVIA
AND THE CITY OF SIERRA MADRE
THIS AGREEMENT is, made and entered into this 1st day of June 2015 by and
between, the CITY OF ARCADIA (AFD), the CITY OF MONROVIA (MFD), and the
CITY OF SIERRA (SMFD) (collectively hereinafter referred to as "CITIES ").
WHEREAS, the CITIES operate independent fire departments within the County
of Los Angeles by providing fire, rescue and emergency medical services within their
respective jurisdictions; and
WHEREAS, the CITIES, pursuant to Title 19, Division 2 of the State's Code of
Regulations, are considered by the State of California Office of Emergency Services to
constitute Operational Area C of Los Angeles County, one of five counties comprising
Region I of the statewide emergency response system, and
WHEREAS, the CITIES have found it to be of mutual benefit if the services of
each fire department are in some limited and predefined circumstances extended
outside of the limits of each jurisdiction into the boundaries of the other; and
WHEREAS, the CITIES have operated with both automatic and mutual aid
agreements for several decades in an effort to assist departments and their respective
communities; and
WHEREAS, it is necessary and desirable that CITIES coordinate efforts for the
provision of automatic aid on an area -wide basis and for purposes of this Agreement,
Automatic Aid shall mean assistance dispatched automatically by contractual
agreement without request and Mutual Aid shall mean aid provided to another agency
upon request;
NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the covenants contained herein,
the CITIES hereby agree as follows:
Purpose. The purpose of this Agreement is to provide for cooperation in the
suppression of fires and protection of life and property within the City
of Sierra Madre by providing Battalion Chief Services for the purposes
of the Incident Management System while working fire, rescue, or other
emergency incidents with the City of Sierra Madre.
Agreement for Battalion Chief Service
2. Duration of Agreement. This Agreement shall become effective upon the
execution of this Agreement by the respective City Manager for each city party to
this Agreement. The Agreement shall automatically renew itself from year to year
thereafter, until terminated. Any party may terminate its participation in the
Agreement at any time by giving written notice to the other parties at least sixty (60)
days prior to the date of termination. The Agreement shall remain in effect with
respect to the remaining parties until and unless all of the parties to the Agreement
terminate their participation.
3. Administration. For purposes of liaison and the administration of this
Agreement, the respective Fire Chief for each city party to this Agreement, or
his /her designee, is designated as its representative, and collectively, they shall
be responsible for administration of this Agreement.
4. Response Area. This Agreement is entered into in attempt to create an automatic
aid process where responses to incidents are made by the closest and most
appropriate Battalion Chief (AFD or MFD), even where the service response area is
not included within the individual agency's jurisdictional boundary. AFD and / or MFD
agree to respond to any reported fire, rescue or emergency incident requiring a
response of a Battalion Chief into the City of Sierra Madre and its boundaries only.
Said responses shall not require any specific request but shall be automatic upon
dispatch by the Verdugo Fire Communications Center which shall generally follow the
dispatch parameters as determined in advance.
5. Provision of Services. When either AFD or MFD responds auto -aid into the City
of Sierra Madre under this Agreement, the Battalion Chief of the responding
jurisdiction shall be in command of all staffing and equipment committed to the
incident; however, the first officer at the scene will be in command even if it is not
their jurisdiction. Command will then be reasonably passed to the AFD or MFD
Battalion Chief arriving on scene of the incident. The Incident Command System
will be utilized, however the AFD or MFD Battalion Chief will remain in charge of
the incident. SMFD Command Staff on scene will resume the role of "support" for
the Incident Commander.
It shall be the responsibility of the Incident Commander on scene to utilize the
staffing and equipment necessary to the extent that is required to bring the
emergency under control. Request for Mutual Aid may be made by the Incident
Commander acting as an agent of the City of Sierra Madre and SMFD. Any cost
incurred from Local, State, or Federal agencies as a result of a Mutual Aid request
within the boundaries of Sierra Madre will be the responsibility of the City of Sierra
Madre.
Under this agreement AFD and MFD Battalion Chiefs are responsible for Incident
Management only at the scene and will report any unsafe practices or concerns
with SMFD personnel to the Director of Public Safety for the City of Sierra Madre.
Page 2 of 5
Agreement for Battalion Chief Service
6. Costs and Reimbursements. All services provided by either AFD or MFD under
this Agreement shall be performed, and shall be paid by the City of Sierra Madre,
at a rate of $85 per hour with a minimum charge of one hour and increments of
one hour per each individual service response. The hourly rate will start at the
time of dispatch and will end at the time the AFD or MFD Battalion Chief goes
available. The CITIES agree that the review of this Agreement and the associated
cost shall be re- evaluated every two years from the effective date of this
Agreement, prior to any automatic extension for the subsequent year.
7. Priorities of Response. The CITIES understand and agree that a responding agency's
response to a request for aid shall depend upon any existing emergency conditions within
its own jurisdiction and the availability of its resources, with the priority for each agency's
resources being an emergency situation in the agency's jurisdictional area.
8. Indemnity. Notwithstanding the provisions of Government Code 895.2, each party
shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the other party and its officers, agents,
employees and representatives from any and all losses, liability, damages, claims,
suits, actions and administrative proceedings, and demands and all expenditures
and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, relating to acts or omissions of the
indemnitor, its officers, agents or employees arising out of or incidental to the
performance of any of the provisions of this Agreement. No party assumes liability
for the acts or omissions of any other party or persons other than each party's
respective officers, agents or employees.
9. Liability Insurance. Each party shall maintain, during the life of this Agreement, a
policy of liability insurance naming the CITIES as an additional insured party in the
amount of $2,000,000.00 per occurrence with aggregate liability coverage of
$2,000,000.00. In the alternative, a party may self- insure in accordance with the
above referenced liability amounts.
10.Waiver. By entering this Agreement, no party waives any of the immunities
provided by the Government Code or other applicable provisions of law. This
Agreement is not intended to confer any legal rights or benefits on any person or
entity other than the parties of this Agreement.
11.Amendments. This Agreement may be amended from time to time by the
unanimous written agreement of the Parties. This Agreement represents
the entire integrated agreement among the Parties as to its subject matter.
12. Parties Operate Independently. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be
construed to make any party hereto or any of its officers, agents or employees the
officer, agent or employee of any other party. Employees of any party performing
services in accordance with this Agreement shall remain employees of that party
for the purposes of workers' compensation and other laws, and no party shall have
liability for injury to an employee of another party.
13. Notification. All notices herein required shall be in writing and delivered in person
or sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the Fire Chief.
Page 3 of 5
Agreement for Battalion Chief Service
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be
executed and attested to by the proper officers hereunder duly authorized, their official
seals to be heretofore affixed. This Agreement may be signed in counterparts.
CITY OF MONROVIA
Date:
ATTEST:
53
Oliver Chi
City Manager
Alice Atkins, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS day of 2015
IM
Craig Steele, City Attorney
CITY OF ARCADIA
Date:
ATTEST:
Dominic Lazzaretto
City Manager
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS day of 2015
53
Stephen P. Deitsch, City Attorney
Page 4 of 5
Agreement for Battalion Chief Service
Date:
ATTEST:
Nancy Shollenberger, City Clerk
CITY OF SIERRA MADRE
Elaine Aguilar, City Manager
APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS day of 2015
Terri Highsmith, City Attorney
Page 5 of 5