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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-03-06 City Council (10)City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Report 3 TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: FIRE AGENDA DATE: SUBJECT: MARCH 6, 2000 CMR: 136:00 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AND THE MENLO PARK FIRE. PROTECTION DISTRICT FOR AUTOMATIC . AID INTO INTER JURISDICTIONAL FIRE PROTECTION SERVICE ZONE. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that Council approve and authorize the Mayor to sign the attached agreement between the City of Palo Alto and the Menlo Park Fire Protection District for automatic aid into interjudsdictional fire protection service zone. BACKGROUND On July 7, 1997 the Council approved a formal automatic aid agreement with the Santa Clara County Fire Protection District for reciprocal fire protection response into areas of the City of Los Altos which border the City of Palo Alto. In return, fire units from the Santa Clara County Fire Protection District respond into areas of the City of Palo Alto which border the City of Los Altos. In January 1998 the Council approved a similar formal automatic aid agreement with the Woodside Fire Protection District for response into areas bordering the Palo Alto hills. The City currently utilizes informal arrangements for automatic aid with the jurisdictions of Mountain View and Menlo Park. Automatic aid agreements are between individual jurisdictions and are reciprocal and mutually beneficial in nature. They provide an ability for the closest fire unit to respond on the "first alarm assignment" regardless of jurisdiction. This occurs when a fire station from another jurisdiction is closer to parts of the other jurisdiction. By utilizing nearest resources, valuable time is saved in placing the appropriate type and number of resources on a fire scene. Extended response.times associated with situations where automatic aid is not available not only jeopardize the safety of the incident victims, but also the safety of firefighters performing initial attack-tasks. CMR 136:00 Page 1 of 3 DISCUSSION An automatic aid agreement with the Menlo Park Fire Piotection District will provide a more timely response into some of the areas protected by Palo Alto Fire Stations 1, 3 and 7 than outlying city fire units may be able to provide. The Fire Chiefs’ of Palo Alto and Menlo Park have met to develop an automatic aide agreement which would be mutually beneficial to each jurisdiction and provide for the rapid response of emergency personnel. Under the current informal arrangement, Menlo Park Fire Protection District is often part of the response assignment for multi-alarm fires in the downtown Palo Alto area. Menlo Park units provide a timely response into the area, thus allowing Palo Alto fire units from the east side of the city to remain in their areas. A similar situation exists in the area protected by Palo Alto Fire Station 7 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). There is a vast amount of wildland around SLAC which poses a threat to both jurisdictions if a fire in that area is not contained in a timely manner. If the automatic aid .response is into jurisdictions protected by the City of Pal0 Alto Fire Department, the closest Menlo Park unit will respond in lieu of a PaloAlto unit which would have a response time greater than the Menlo Park unit. In essence, a Menlo Park unit, replaces a Palo Alto unit leaving that unit available, in the City, to response to other emergency calls. The reverse will hold true for responses into jurisdictions protected by the Menlo Park Fire Protection District. A Palo Alto fire unit will replace a Menlo Park fire unit which would have a longer response time to the incident. If a response occurred in the first-in area covered by the Palo ’Alto fire unit on automatic aid in Menlo Park, the call would be handled by another Palo Alto fire unit. RESOURCE IMPACT There is no direct fiscal impact to the City resulting from this agreement. The agreement utilizes existing resources on a "closest resource" basis and does not require additional staffing (overtime) to implement. POLICY IMPLICATIONS The. recommendation is consistent with existing City policies. With the current piacement of fire stations and apparatus in the City of Palo Alto, there should not be detrimental delays in response to incidents in the City of Palo Alto because of the automatic aid agreement. CMR 136:00 Page 2 of 3 ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW This project is categorically exempt under the provisions of California Environmental Quality Act as a use of existing facilities without the expansion beyond the applications now existing. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A:Automatic Aid Agreement "Agreement Between the City .of Palo Alto and the Menlo Park Fire Protection District for Automatic Aid Into Interjurisdictional Fire Protection Service Zone." Attachment B:Automatic Aid Response Map Prepared by: Judith A. Jewell, Deputy Fire Chief Department head Review: ~’~ ,/ City Manager Approval: City CMR 136:00 Page 3 of 3 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AND THE MENLO PARK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT FOR AUTOMATIC AID INTO INTER-JURISDICTIONAL FIRE PROTECTION SERVICE ZONE This Agreement is made and entered into on Nc~ro_mho_r ] 7 : , 1999, by and between the CITY OF PALO ALTO and the MENLO PARK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT. ¯ WHEREAS, the City of Palo Alto ("Palo Alto") provides fire protection services within its municipal boundaries; and, WHEREAS, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District ("District’:) provides fire protection services within its special district boundaries which includes the City of Menlo Park, The City of East Palo Alto, The Town of Atherton, and unincorporated areas of San Mateo.County; and, WHEREAS, the jurisdictions of Palo Alto and the District are adjacent to one another and share a common boundary line for a considerable distance; and, WHEREAS, the legislative bodies of.the parties to this Agreement have determined that the most efficient use of available fire suppression resources of the parties would be made through assured mutual response into a fire threat zone overlapping the Cities of Palo Alto and the Menlo Park Fire Protection District; and, WHEREAS, the parties desire to exercise jointly their powers to provide fire protection and emergency medical response pursuant to Government Code section 6500, et seq., under the terms and conditions set forth below. NOW, THEREFORE, it is agreed by and between the parties hereto as follows: A.Type of Assistance This agreement is intended to provide for automatic response by the closest emergency response apparatus for use in fire suppression and first responder medical emergency incidents within an overlapping area of the territories of the City of Palo Alto and the Menlo Park Fire Protection District and which is described as the automatic aid zone identified in this Agreement. For the purposes of this Agreement, the party providing automatic aid into the adjacent jurisdiction shall be identified as the "assisting agency", and the party receiving automatic aid shall be identified as the "jurisdictional agency". The automatic aid response shall consist of the closest engine company, regardless of jurisdiction. Should the closest automatic aid unit be unavailable, .the assisting agency will promptly advise the jurisdictional agency that automatic aid will not be provided. Code 3 emergencies which require the use of red fights and sirens by responding fire units are the only incidents for which provisions are made for automatic aid under this Agreement. Calls for public service, post-fire investigations, and similar responses which do not require the use of red lights and sirens by the responding fire units are not incidents for which provisions are made for automatic aid under this agreement. These calls shall be handled by the jurisdictional agency. Paramedic services shall not be provided under this Agreement whether or not the response is a Code 3 emergency. Fire suppression and first responder medical emergency services in excess of those provided for under this Agreement or other specific agreements must be requested through existing mutual aid arrangements, if any. B.Response Areas Palo Alto and the District shall respond into each other’s designated areas as follows: 1.The District shall respond into those areas of Palo Alto delineated and enclosed by a solid line on the map identified as "Area A" incorporated by reference herein. "Area A" is generally described as being bordered on the north by Highway 101 at the Embarcadero Road Interchange, on the east by Embarcadero Road from Highway 101 extending along Arboretum Road and Palm Drive to Campus Drive and then along Junipero Serra Boulevard and San Francisquito Creek to Highway 280, on the south by Highway 280, and on the west by Sand Hill Road from Highway 280 extending along San Fr .ancisquito Creek to Highway 101 near its intersection with Embarcadero Road. 2. Palo Alto shay respond into those areas of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District delineated and enclosed by a solid line on the map identified as "Area B" incorporated by reference herein. "Area B" is generally bounded on the north by Highway 101, on the east by the San Francisquito Creek extending along Sand W__tli Road to Highway 280, on the south by Highway 280, and on the west by Walsh road extending along Alameda de las Pulgas to Valparaiso Avenue extending along Glenwood Avenue and thence along Middlefield Road to Ringwood Avenue and Bay Road to Highway 101 at the Willow Road intersection. C.Training Perio~lie interagency training shall be conducted for the purposes of improving working relationships and operational coordination between Palo Alto and District units. Training exercises shall be scheduled at mutually agreed upon times and locations. .D.Response Maps and.Preplans Upon execution of this Agreement, Palo ,Alto and the District shall provide each other with current standard response maps and preplans for the designated areas, and shall provide updated versions within 14 calendar days of changes which may occur. E.Qperational Command Guidelines 1.The highest ranking officer of the jurisdictional agency will have operational responsibility and the final authority, as to strategy and tactics deployed at the incident once an officer for the jurisdictional agency assumes command of the incident. The first arriving officer from~.the assisting agency will assume command until an officer from the jurisdictional agency responds to the incident and assumes command. 2. It shall be the responsibility of the officer in command to summon additional personnel and equipment, if needed, to handle the emergency, 3:As soon as the officer in command determines that no further assistance is required, he/she will so inform the jurisdictional agency dispatch center, cancelling any other responding units. 4. It shall be the responsibility of the officer in command to utilize the staffing and equipment from the assisting agency only to the extent required to bring the emergency under control. The assisting agency shall no~ be required to provide assistance for overhaul and clean up operations after a fire. 5. The resources froth the assisting agency shall be released from the scene of the emergency as soon as practical. F.Fire Incident Reportin~ The jurisdictional agency, if it responds to an incident, will be responsible for completing, filing, recording, and storing all reports including reports mandated by local and state governments and agencies. If the jurisdictional agency does not in fact respond to an incident, the assisting agency will be responsible for completing, filing, recording, and" storing of all reports (unless otherwise provided by law) and shall additionally transmit a copy of each report to the jurisdictional agency upon request. G.Compensation All services provided by either Palo Alto or the District under this agreement shall be performed without monetary compensation. The mutual advantages, protections and services afforded by this Agreement are mutually agreed to be adequate compensation to’both agencies. H.Evaluation The effectiveness of the procedures contained in this Agreement shall be evaluated annually by the respective Fire Chiefs, or their designees, of Palo Alto and the District. I.Term This Agreement shall commence upon .execution of the Agreement by both parties and shall continue in full force and effect unless terminated as provided herein. This Agreement may be terminated without cause by any signatory party upon written notice of termination given to the other party at least thirty (30) days in advance of the effective date of termination. Notice of termination shall be personally served or mailed to the other party to this Agreement. J.Amendments to Agreement ¯1. This Agreement contains all of the terms and conditions agreed to between the parties. Except as otherwise specified, this Agreement shall not be amended or altered without the written consent of each party. 2. The Fire Chiefs of the parties to this Agreement shall have the authority to make minor changes to the boundaries of"Area A" and "Area B" and to execute any documents required to implemem such amendmems. Any such amendments shall be mutually agreed upon in writing by the Fire Chiefs of the parties. K.Operational Protocols Implementing details from the fire suppression and first responder medical services provided pursuant to this Agreement shall be established by a written operational protocol between the Fire Chiefs of Palo Alto and the District, and the terms of. the operational protocol shall be incorporated herein and binding upon the parties. L.Legal Relationships 1. While Palo Alto’s personnel are responding into the District pursuam to this Agreement, the l~arties concur that Palo Alto’s employees so assigned shall not be considered to be either general or special employees .of the District for purposes of the workers’ compensation laws. While the District’s personnel are responding into Palo Alto pursuant tb this Agreement, the parties concur that the District’s employees so assigned shall not be considered to be general or special employees of Palo Alto for purposes of the workers’ compensation laws. 2. Except as otherwise provided herein, each party agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the other party, its officers, agents, and employees from any and all demands, claims, or liabilities of any nature, including, death or injury to any person, property damage, or any other loss caused by or arising out of that party’s performance or failure to perform the obligations assumed under this Agreement; provided, however, that a party’s indemnification obligation under this provision of the Agreement does extend to negligent or willful performance or failures of performance by the other party. 3. This agreement is entered into solely for the mutual benefit of the signatory parties and not for the benefit of any resident or other person or entity. No person or entity not a party hereto shall have any right to enforce this Agreement or bring any action as a consequence of this Agreement arising out of a failure or omission on the part of any of the parties to provide the services described herein. 4.This Agreement is intended to supplement rather than supplant any other agreements or arrangements between the parties for aid in emergencies requiring fire protection, fire suppression,’ or first responder medical care into the geographic areas covered by this Agreement; provided, however, that with respect to automatic aid, the provisions of this agreement will take precedence over the provisions of any other agreement or arrangement, the provisions of which are inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Agreement. 5. This Agreement shall not-be construed to create a joint exercise of powers entity under the provisions of Government Code §6500, et seq. Notwithstanding the provisions for allocation ~ of loss or liability provided therein, the provisions of this Agreement for loss allocation shall govern. ATTEST:CITY OF PALO ALTO City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM:: Mayor Senior Asst. City Attomey APPROVED: Assistant City Manager Fire Chief Director of Administrative Services Risk Manager MENLO PARK FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT President, ATTEST: Secretary of Directors ounsel