UBCM COMMUNITY EXCELLENCE AWARD S

2006 APPLICATION BOOKLET

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Remember to send 8 copies of your entire application package for distribution to the Selection Committee.

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VI A completed application form I F A P P L Y I N G T O A N N U A L R E P O R T I N G :

A one-paragraph summary of the project/program/being submitted

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DEADLINE : FRIDAY, JULY 14, 2006

TO: Union of BC Municipalities DATE: July 24, 2006 SUBJECT: Union of British Columbia Municipalities Community Excellence Awards PURPOSE: To apply for an award under the category of “Leadership & Innovation- Regional District” for achieving “Superior Tanker Shuttle” certification by the Regional District of Nanaimo’s Errington Volunteer Fire Department. The Regional District believes that this initiative demonstrates benefits to residents in the Regional District of Nanaimo both economically, by reducing the cost of property insurance premiums in a rural area and socially by enhancing the quality of fire protection services. The project was innovative in its approach and only achieved with significant support from the community volunteers who operate the volunteer fire department. PROJECT SUMMARY: On June 7, 2005 the Errington Volunteer Fire Department in Electoral Area F of the Regional District of Nanaimo became the first department west of Ontario to be certified for a “Superior Tanker Shuttle” rating. There are no fire hydrants in this rural area of the Regional District of Nanaimo. Owners receive a basic discount on property insurance simply by having a local fire department, however, the “Superior Tanker Shuttle” rating significantly enhances the discount for property insurance rates. The rating recognizes that the department can haul water to a fire at the same rate as a residential hydrant. PROJECT HISTORY: The Errington Fire Protection district on Vancouver Island covers approximately 80 square kilometers and has a population of about 3,500. The volunteer fire department has about 28 members and maintains two firehalls. Its annual call volume is between 150 and 200 calls. About eight years ago the department committed to develop a system to deliver enough water to achieve a “Superior Tanker Shuttle” rating. The initiative would involve acquiring water tanks, the use of various privately owned water sources, unique tanker trucks and equipment and other lots and lots of volunteer resources. The impetus came from reading a story about a small town fire department in Ontario that achieved a lower insurance rating because of its ability to haul water to a fire at the same rate as a residential hydrant. Being a department that likes a good challenge, they decided to “go for it”. The area has no lakes and poor access to river water so the first step was to hunt for tanks which could be strategically located throughout the area. All of the tanks were acquired for free and included ex fuel tanks from a local gas station, fiberglass tanks from a local pulp mill and some huge fuel storage tanks form a tank farm. Cleaning, painting and installation were largely accomplished by dedicated volunteers. The next challenge was how to haul the wet stuff to the red stuff quickly and efficiently at a cost the taxpayers could live with. After months of research the department took the bold step of moving away from traditional purpose built pumper/tanker vehicles. In their place the department acquired two tandem

UBCM Community Excellence Award – Errington Fire Dept July 24, 2006 Page 2 axle chassis with a “multi-lift” hook lift system. Portable “pods” can be moved on and off the vehicle very quickly – leave one filled with water behind while returning to the hall for a second one where necessary. Two or more pods at a scene can be hooked together by gravity feed to make the water flow continuously from one unit to the next and finally to the fire itself. The department had done a good job of setting aside funds to help purchase vehicles and equipment over the years, but it needed a bit more to bring the project to its final conclusion. The department arranged a public meeting to explain its vision for improving fire protection in the area. The meeting was advertised in the local newspaper, on the Regional District website and notices were placed at strategic business location. At the meeting the department was able to demonstrate that most individual homeowners would receive annual reductions in their fire insurance premiums of between $200 to $500. This compared very favourably to the tax increase of approximately $24 for a property worth $250,000. While attendance was relatively low, those attending were 100% in favour of the request to increase the budget modestly. The department estimates that the whole community saves approximately $300,000 annually under the new rating compared to its annual tax requisition of about $260,000. Pods are used just for delivering water. One pod contains the breathing apparatus fill station and an emergency generator. The department is also exploring funding opportunities to equip a further pod with a portable sprinkling system that could be “dropped” into less accessible areas where wildfires might occur. The Errington Fire Protection district completed an Interface Wildfire Assessment in 2005 with funding support from the UBCM and much of its area is identified as at extreme risk of interface wildfires. Vehicles (check), equipment (check), water tanks (check) – with everything “checked off the list” the final step was a live demonstration. Bob Nelson from the Fire Underwriters Survey handled the application and test review. Not only did the department have to “do what they said they could do”, they had to provide details about their equipment, membership, maintenance schedules, call volumes and record keeping. Proving that there was enough water to flow 200 Imperial gallons per minute for two hours turned out to be the easy part – and even a bit boring! The Errington Volunteer Fire Department has been “Superior Tanker Shuttle” certified for over a year and its example is being considered by other rural volunteer fire departments in the Regional District. The roll on/roll off equipment concept has proven to be a creative response to an ambitious vision and residents both within the fire protection district and throughout the Regional District are proud of this significant accomplishment by a dedicated group of community volunteers. Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Errington Volunteer Fire Department. ____________________________________ Manager Financial Services Attachments:

1. Article “ Fire Fighting in Canada” 2. Picture – Roll on/roll off firetruck 3. Certificate of Achievement 4. Fire Underwriters Survey accreditation letter

Rural department builds water supply tanks around community and improvesapparatus fleet to earn the FUS "Superior Tanker Shuttle" ratin g

A bout eight years ago theErrington p'ire,Dept . corn-mitted to develop a systemto deliver enough water toachieve a "Superior Tanker

Shuttle" rating . This involved acquiringwater tanks, the use of various privatelyowned water sources, unique tanker trucks

and equipment, and other resources. The

reasons for taking on such a huge projectare to give our residents the best possiblefire protection and at the same time, saving

them money on their home insurance .

On June 7, 2005, we achieved this rat-ing from the Fire Underwriters Survey .

This provides residents of Errington with afire protection insurance rating equivalentto that of a residential hydrant-protectedcommunity. We were informed thatBrrington is 'the first fire department westof Ontario to achieve this rating .

This project started when my predeces-sor, Dean Kettner, read an article in a backissue of Fire Fighting In Canada magazine

(August J.992), about a small town firedepartment in Ontario - the former ComberFire Department in the southwestern part ofthat province - that achieved a lower insur-ance rating, because of its ability to haulwater to a fire at the same rate as a residen-

tial hydrant .Being a department that likes a good

challenge we decided to "go for it" Nothaving any lakes in the district and pooraccess to the only river, we decided theonly alternative was to set up large watertanks, strategically placed around town,which we can draw from at any time .Members of the department went on thehunt for any tanks we could get our handson, and find them we did - ex fuel tanksfrom the local gas station, fibreglass tanksfrom the pulp raill and huge fuel storage

tanks from a tank farm . All were fr•ee so we

just had to persuade local companies todonate the trucking and give us a good dealon crane time to lift them all in place .

It was a lot of hard work buildingstands, painting tanks, acquiring the use ofprivate property on which to place thesetanks, as well as fitting the necessary over-head fill pipes, but we felt even if we failed

PHOTOS COURTESY BRRINGTON VOL. FIRE DEPT.

Errington .fcre fighters perforni the test to achieve the "superior tanker shuttle" ratingfrom the Fire Underwriters Survey. This department is the first west of Ontario to receivethis important insurance rating, lowering rates for residents in Errington and offering abetter fcre protection systen.

to get the rating, it was well worth the effortjust to give the community a better watersupply for fire suppression . The nineabove-ground tanks range in size from

10,000 gallons to 23,000 gallons . O.ne issupplied by a well and the others are filled

by the department's tankers after use . The

tanks are checked every three months aspart of a regular maintenance schedule . Thevalves and fitting are examined and tanklevels are monitored regularly .

The next problem was determining howto haul the wet stuff to the red stuff quick-ly and efficiently at a cost that the taxpay-ers could live with . At the time we had anold 1972 1,500-gal . tanker, which was slowto say the least. It had to be replaced .

After months of research we decided toskip traditi.on . and go for a radical alterna-tive, a regular tandem axle chassis with a"multi-lift" hook lift system . It was felt thatthis was a more practical solution for thedepartment as a whole, because of the factthat one truck can become any conceivabletype of fire apparatus just by dropping onepod and picking up another .

Because the area that we cover is quitelarge (80 square kilometres) we require twofire halls, so to get a second tanker we hadto go to the residents with our cap in handand ask for a budget increase to cover the

cost. After explaining all the details at a

public meeting, the residents were 100 percent in favour, and in 2003, the tanker fleet ,

12 F/RE FICHTdNG !N CANADA / SfiPTF,MBFR 2005

including two 2,700-gal . secondary tanks,

was complete . .After putting the finishing touches to

the area water supply tanks and installing acouple of dry hydrant systems in local irri.-gation ponds, the system was ready. Allthat remained was to prove to the FireUnderwriters Survey that we had the sys-tem in place, we had the right equipmentfor the job and we knew how to use it

efficiently .Every aspect of the Errington Fire

Department's operations wasanalyzed by Bob Nelson ofthe Fire Underwriters Survey .In June he visited the depart-ment and thoroughly assessedthe Department's FirePrevention and TrainingPrograms, past performance,call volume, personnel andstaffing, equipment andrecord keeping. The final por-tion of the assessment was toactually deliver the required

water flow . In the evening ona regularly scheduled practicenight we had to prove thatanywhere in the district wewould be able to flow at least

200 Igpm uninterrupted for atotal of two hours . This wasdone at the farthest corner ofthe district with a distance of

4 .2 kilometres from the water

source to the test site .

Portable tanks were set up,pods were dropped, morepods were retrieved and theprocess began. Most of thewater is gravity fed between

the portable tanks but occa-sionally a primary pod-

mounted volume pump kicks in to help out .

After initial setup it was pretty boringwatching 24,000 gallons get fired into thebush through a flow gauge, but after eightyears of preparation it sure felt good to see

it all come together.It is difficult to place a figure on just

how much money a home owner will saveon their insurance, but it puts them in thesame category as an area that is hydrant

protected. To date, reports of savings in fire

insurance reductions have ranged from$200 to $500 and even as much as $800 . In

reality, the community is saving over$300,000 per year in insurance premiums,which is significantly more than the totalfire department budget, so at these savingsthe financial investment it took to get thisproject off the ground was, to say the least,

well worth it .For more information regarding

Errington's successful "superior" tanker

One of the new tanker-pod trucks begins to The water flows from the water tank poddump its water load into a portable tank The new trucks are designed to hold aduring the FUS test. variety of pod configurations.

shuttle system, contact Errington FireChief Colin Catton, 250-248-5601 (FireHall), fax 250-248-3691 or e-mailerrin gtonfd @ sh aw . ca .+

The departmen tThe Errington Fire Protection district on

Vancouver Island covers approximately80 square kilometres and has apopulation of about 3,500 . The Errington

Volunteer Fire Department, under the

direction of Fire Chief Colin Catton, has28 members and maintains two fire halls,two rated engines, two tankers and abush truck. The annual call volume isbetween 150 and 200 calls.

FUS's Bob Nelson audited the water flowtest, held on a practice night by theErrington fire fighters.

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This pitot gauge attached to the deck gunmonitors the water flow.

During the test the department achieved awater flow of 200-Igpm, uninterrupted fora total of two hours.

Oct 12 05 11 :39a Errington 2502483691 p . 3

FIRE UNDERWRITERS SURVEYA SERVICE TO INSUE2ERS AND MUNICIPALITIEB

t•!tr (( :1 Iufnrrv;rlertt! S Y:cICtns and 1!a nm gcineot Cttttsttl ; ;IDis

July 15, 2005

Errington Volunteer Fire DepartmentP.O. Box 11 0Errington, BC,VOR I V O

Re: Superior Tanker Shuttle Service Accreditatio n

Attention: Mr. Colin Catton, Fire Chief

It is with great pleasure that Fire Undprwriters Survey can n~, ., no,.:nce that the Err:ngto n F:reProtection District has met and exceeded the requirements for SUPERIOR TANKERSHUTTLE SERVICE ACCREDITATION for fire insurance grading purposes . The effectivedate for the accreditation is June 7th , 2005.

The Errington Fire Protection District is currently the lst British Columbia community to achievethis standard of accreditation for the delivery of emergency water supp lies via a water tendershuttle operation .

Superior Tanker Shuttle Service accreditation is awarded to communities who can demonstratethat over a specified duration of time they can supply a specified water flow delivery rateanywhere within their fire protection response coverage area; utilizing only water tenders as thewater supply delivery mechanistn in lieu of a standard hydranted water distribution system. FireUnderwriters Survey witnesses and evaluates the complete test to ensure the testing parametersare being met .

Meeting the requirements of Superior Tanker Shuttle Standard offers a community an alternativeto the traditional water distribution system, and is a superior level of protection when comparedto standard tanker shuttle operations .

Our congratulations are extended to Ezxington Fire Depa rtment management and fire fightermembership, and all other community members who have contributed in achieving thisaccreditation, and for improving the level of fire protection in the Errington Fire ProtectionDistrict.

Sincerely,

~~~Robert J. Nelson, CRMSurveyor, Pacific Region

N

COM

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NOV)N

Certificate of Achievement~This certificate is in recognition that the

Errington F ire Protection District

In the Province of British Columbia

Has met the requirements of

Superior Tanker Shuttle Service

0~Uc.'.,LLW

As awarded by

FIRE UNDERWRITERS SURVEYFor Fire Insurance Grading and Classification Purposes

0

The effective date for Superior Tanker Shuttle Service accreditation is TU11rE 7, 2005rvmm

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On behalf of the Fire Insurance Industry in Canada, Fire Underwriters Survey extends its congratulations to the Errington FireDepartment and other members ofthe community w ho have contributed toward improving the level offire protection in the

Errington Fire Protection District.

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