About Us

CONTENTS
Annual Report 2011
Firehalls
Message From the Chief
Organization Chart
Our History
Strategic Plan 2011-2015
Technical Rescue and Hazardous Materials
"Vancouver's Bravest" - 120 Years of Firefighting History - By Alex Matches
Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services Band
Vision and Mission

Overview

The VFRS is committed to providing high quality, cost effective services for the people who live and work in the city. The mission of the men and women of the VFRS is 'People who care about you'. Protecting life, property and the environment in the city is our primary objective. As a result, the department responds to a wide variety of emergency and non-emergency incidents throughout the City.

Over the past two decades the City of Vancouver has been implementing a risk management strategy that is focused on reducing the city's level of fire risk and better preparing the city to cope with large scale disasters like earthquakes. This strategy includes a requirement for automatic sprinklers to be installed in all new construction (including single family dwellings), deployment of the Dedicated Fire Protection System (DFPS) throughout the city core and the VFRS taking a lead role in the city's community and emergency preparedness strategy.

These and other initiatives have been very effective at reducing Vancouver's level of fire risk as compared to other North America cities. As a result, the number of serious fires in the city have declined and the annual fire death rate is second to none, all while the city's population has steadily increased. The VFRS is also a full participant in the fire boat consortium which has a fleet of five fireboats deployed in the region; two of which are stationed in Vancouver, one in Coal Harbour and the other in False Creek.

Emergency Medical Services

Vancouver's emergency medical needs are served jointly by the British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS) and the VFRS. The VFRS has provided emergency 'first-responder' medical care in the city for many, many years and recently, the department's role in the delivery of emergency medical services has expanded. In 1994, all department apparatus were equipped with Automatic External Defibrillators (AED). All staff are now trained to the 'First Responder - Level III' standard which includes spinal immobilization, CPR and AED certifications.

Over the past few years, the number of emergency medical calls the department responds to has increased dramatically. In 2000 over 66% of VFRS' annual call volume was for emergency medical incidents. Current 9-1-1 policies require all medical calls to be forwarded to the BCAS dispatch centre. After an ambulance has been dispatched, emergency medical calls are then down-streamed by the BCAS dispatchers to the 'first-responder' fire departments in the City of Vancouver and the region.

The VFRS arrives first at medical emergencies almost 60% of the time, primarily due to the strategic distribution and location of firehalls, and continues to expand its role in pre-hospital medical service delivery in the City by offering Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training to public organizations. If you are interested in arranging training for your organized group, please call 604-654-0615 for more information.

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Challenges

One of the greatest challenges facing the VFRS is how to deliver better, more comprehensive services with the same or less tax dollars. Many North American cities have cut costs by consolidating fire departments into a single regional service. Regional consolidation has many benefits which include a wider tax base to fund fire services, a reduced overlap of a wide array of support services, and better preparing the region to respond to a major incident like an earthquake.

The VFRS continues to explore ways to shared and/or consolidate specialized services such as heavy urban search and rescue, hazardous materials, high angle and fast water rescue teams to service a larger geographic area. Currently, the VFRS is the first fire department in the region to participate in a far reaching initiative to consolidate vital emergency communications and dispatch functions for all emergency service providers in the region under a newly formed non-profit corporation called 'Emergency Communications for South Western British Columbia Inc.' a.k.a. E-COMM.

Planning for the future

The VFRS has expended a considerable amount of time and energy in planning and implementing changes for the future. In 1998, the operational deployment of staff and apparatus was significantly altered to align with the recommendations contained in Option 6 of the 'Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service Deployment Study' completed by the Tri-Data Corporation in 1996. This redeployment changed department apparatus from primarily Engines and Ladders to multi-purpose 75' Quints and Rescue Engines staffed with four personnel, and Rescue Medical units staffed with two.

The management team of the department was also restructured in 1998 to align with the recommendations contained in the 'Organizational Review of the Senior Management Structure of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services' completed by Sommers Consulting group in 1997. Both of these initiative were implemented as a direct result of specific problems and solutions identified through the department's annual strategic planning process.

Due to ongoing budgetary constraints, and the desire to implement a more effective service delivery model, the VFRS continues to explore ways to share service delivery with other city departments and the municipalities on our borders. Examples include our ongoing work with police to determine if there is a more effective way to manage motor vehicle accidents (MVA) and work with other fire departments to more effectively share specialized resources.

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