Fremont City Council Meeting: 06/20/23 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Fire Department
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 4939) DOC ID: 4939
Updated: 6/15/2023 12:26 PM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 1 MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT FOR EMERGENCY FIRE RESPONSE - Consideration and Approval of a Mutual Aid Agreement for Emergency Fire Response between the City of Fremont and the City of Milpitas
Contact Persons:
Name: Zoraida Diaz Heather Mozdean
Title: Fire Chief Deputy Fire Chief
Div/Dept: Fire Department Fire Department
Phone: 510-494-4200 (510) 494-4281
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: The City of Fremont Fire Department has been working with the City of Milpitas Fire Department under a Mutual Aid Agreement since 1982. In emergency services, mutual aid is an agreement among emergency responders to lend assistance across jurisdictional boundaries. This may occur due to an emergency response that exceeds local resources, such as a large-scale disaster or a multiple-alarm fire. The updated mutual aid agreement between the Fremont Fire Department and the Milpitas Fire Department formally addresses both agencies' needs and provides opportunities for sharing services that will benefit both communities and improve emergency response. The agreement has a five (5) year term.
BACKGROUND: In the past, the City of Fremont Fire Department and the City of Milpitas Fire Department have provided mutual aid assistance to each other as requested. This has benefitted both jurisdictions, who now desire to update the arrangement by entering into the revised mutual aid agreement. The intent of the agreement is to provide for mutual aid response by an available emergency response unit(s) for use in fire suppression and medical, rescue and other emergency incidents within the individual jurisdictional fire boundaries of the City of Fremont and the City of Milpitas. Mutual aid response will consist of the closest available engine company and will follow each agency's respective jurisdictional guidelines and deployment plan.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: The proposed agreement memorializes each party's interest and need to provide reasonable and reciprocal exchange of emergency medical and rescue, fire, and other emergency services on an as-needed basis. The agreement provides that mutual aid assistance may be requested by the agency in which the incident has occurred and is determined that outside assistance is necessary to protect life or property. The assisting agency, after considering its needs and the availability of resources, may authorize mutual aid assistance. The mutual aid resources are to be released when the services are no longer required or when the assisting agency's resources are needed in its jurisdiction.
The agreement provides that neither agency will incur liability for failure or refusal to furnish mutual aid assistance, or for recalling resources. The agreement also provides that each agency is responsible for its own personnel and that each agency is responsible only for its own acts or omissions.
Additionally, the agreement lays out operationally specific information in the Deployment plan. In order to monitor the performance under the proposed agreement, both parties will Council Staff Report (ID # 4939) Meeting of June 20, 2023 Updated: 6/15/2023 12:26 PM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 2 jointly evaluate the effectiveness of the agreement, which may include a review of the number of mutual aid incidents, any issues with the mutual aid requests or response process, areas for improvement, and any other issues that may have arisen in connection with the agreement.
FISCAL IMPACT: All mutual aid services provided under the proposed agreement will be performed without monetary compensation or reimbursement. The agreement states that the mutual advantages, protections and services are adequate compensation for the mutual aid services. The agreement also states that it is intended that the services provided and received by each agency be of equal value. In the event compensation is available from a third party as a result of an incident in which mutual aid services were provided, both agencies will cooperate in pursuing such compensation and in allocating any cost recovery proportionately with the costs incurred by each agency in responding to the incident.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: Approval and implementation of the agreement is an organizational/administrative governmental activity that will not result in physical changes in the environment. Therefore, it is not a project subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute a Mutual Aid Agreement between the City of Fremont and the City of Milpitas to provide mutual aid fire emergency response as needed for a term of five (5) years.