Looking to 2020

While we had many successes and made much progress during 2019, we continue to look for more opportunities to improve the tools and strategies we use to care for our community.

In 2020, our focus will be on continuing to develop a strategic plan for the organization that will guide our decisions — from budget considerations to recruitment to public engagement — for the coming years.

Challenges and Opportunities

As the DNVFRS looks to the future, we will maintain a heightened awareness around the changes facing our community.

Our population is aging, which means we need to ensure pre-hospital care continues to meet the needs of this important demographic.

At the same time, as the number of wildfires rises due to climate change, we will continue to increase the work we do around wildfire mitigation, preparedness, and response.

We are also revising our Fire Bylaw to improve clarification and create more effective interpretations that better reflect the needs of the community and provide better support for our department, organizational needs, and the manner in which we conduct business.

 

 

 


Strategic Planning

In 2018, we began an inclusive process to re-examine our organizational mission, vision, and core values.

This process will continue in 2020 and we will begin to engage both internal and external stakeholders as part of our overall strategic planning. Our goal is to deliver a five-year strategic plan for 2020-2025.

This activity will be used to:

  • set priorities
  • focus energy and resources
  • strengthen operations
  • ensure that our personnel and other stakeholders are working toward common goals
  • establish agreement around intended outcomes/results
  • and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to an evolving environment.

 

 


Fire Service Accreditation

We are currently a registered agency for the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) and working towards fire service accreditation through the Centre for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE).

This initial component of the multi-year program is expected to take three years to complete and will result in a thorough review and alignment of all sections of our business and align with best practices in emergency services.

In late 2019, we defined our Self Assessment Team (SAT) and will be working with them on training, timelines, and deliverables for action items. Recognition by the CFAI is considered to be the highest level of recognition by peers within the Public Safety Industry. 

Accreditation is an ongoing process that involves engaging throughout the department using thorough self-assessment practices and creating a cycle of continuous improvement.

 

 


Fire Investigations

To ensure that our fire investigators have the tools and safety gear necessary to perform this mandated service, we commissioned a state-of-the-art fire investigation unit (FIU) this year.

The FIU incorporates private areas for changing gear and preparing confidential paperwork, as well as a separated area for tools and equipment that helps improve the health and safety of our fire investigators by protecting them from carcinogens.

 

 

 

 


Pre-Fire Planning and Mobile Inspections

 To allow for real-time updates and access to pre-incident plans — a site plan of a building and property to be used by, and ensure the safety of our firefighters — the mobile computers on our fire truck apparatus have been linked to a new mobile software program.

The new software program also provides us with access to pre-incident plans for our shared service partners in the District of West Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver.  

We are continuing to move forward with plans for a mobile fire inspection program for 2020.

 


Energy Efficient Fire Inspection Fleet

This year, we replaced 50% of our aging fleet of gas-fueled inspection and investigation vehicles with alternate fuel vehicles.

We're planning to replace the remaining fleet vehicles with alternate fuel vehicles over the next two to three years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Public Education

To increase our interactions with the public, review and revise our programs, and identify new ways to reach at-risk groups, we're creating a new position for a Captain of Public Safety and Community Risk Reduction.

This position allows us to create a community risk reduction plan and update our public education programs for our community and stakeholders.

We are also working to secure joint funding and community sponsorship to purchase a new demonstration fire safety house, which would be shared with the City of North Vancouver and the District of West Vancouver.

Both the new Captain of Public Safety and fire safety house will provide necessary updates to the Grade 3 fire safety outreach program, along with many other programs.

 

 

 


FireSmart Communities

We're adding members to our team of local FireSmart representatives to increase our interaction with our community and work towards increasing our public outreach FireSmart programs.

Being a FireSmart community means there is valuable fire protection knowledge shared with homeowners, which empowers residents to improve safety for themselves, their families, and the community as a whole.