Massachusetts Fire Chief 2009

STATEWIDE FIRE MOBILIZATION PLAN BY CHIEF EDWARD J. O’BRIEN, CHAIRMAN, STATEWIDE MOBILIZATION COMMITTEE ©www.dreamstime.com The purpose and beneﬁts of the Statewide Fire Mobilization plan can best be summed up by our mission statement; “Our mission is to provide an efﬁcient, effective and coordinated third level of mutual aid to all Massachusetts communities and adjacent states after they have exhausted their normal mutual aid agreements, and to integrate all types of specialized ﬁre rescue resources into a comprehensive and workable plan. Mutual aid will not be limited by boundaries but will be based upon professional and educated decisions. We will respond to any type of assistance including ﬁ re, EMS, natural or manmade disasters and terrorism.” The plan has been in place since the early 1950’s and was established as a result of large scale forest ﬁ re in the Plymouth area. It was originally referred to as the State Civil Defense Statute and made the Governor responsible for the protection of life and property from natural and manmade disasters. Over the years the plan became outdated and did not reﬂect the updated equipment, communications and organization of the time. In 1980 the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts activated a group called the State Fire Mobilization Committee. This committee worked to produce a new executive order, #221, which was enacted in 1982 and contained many new improvements and changes with some of the key points being: • It is the responsibility of the Fire Chiefs’ Association of Massachusetts to set up a workable plan. • The order requires that the command of the ﬁre forces remain with the head of the ﬁre department in the jurisdiction requesting assistance. • The order requires that all communities retain a reasonable level of ﬁre protection for their own coverage. • Regional and District Coordinators are appointed by the State Director of Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency upon recommendation by Fire Chiefs within that district. (There are 4 Regional Coordinators, 15 District Coordinators and 15 Alternate District Coordinators.) The plan is a constant work in progress and is always being improved and revised. The committee just recently completed revising the inventories and running cards for the Structural and Forestry Task Forces and continues to work on the Tanker/Tender and Disaster Task Forces. The updated plan as well as reporting forms, job descriptions and other information is available to all ﬁ re departments by accessing WebEOC on the MEMA website. It is important to remember that the Statewide Mobilization Plan only comes into play when the local community resources and those of the normal mutual aid system have been exhausted. The plan sends apparatus and personnel in task forces or strike teams with their own leaders. The units meet at an assembly point and travel together, reporting to a designated reporting location for assignment. The task forces can and have been used for cover assignments. One of the recent enhancements over the last few years was the creation of the Ambulance Task Forces as another component of the plan. Through a partnership with Department of Public Health, funding was secured to conduct training and provide additional equipment for participants of the ambulance plan. The committee also addressed the communications concerns while responding to requests for assistance. Working with Department of Conservation and Recreation, the use of what is now referred to as the FAMTRAC Channel (Fire Ambulance Travel Channel) was put in place. This was a cost-effective means to allow communications across the state when units respond out of their coverage areas and allows constant tracking and communications with those resources. We are looking at ways to integrate the many specialized resources that are available and located throughout the state into the ﬁre mobilization plan and have also been discussing the close relationship and similarities with EMAC. The Fire Mobilization Committee has been working diligently to address items that were identiﬁed in a Strategic Study that was completed in 2006. The study was facilitated through the efforts of the Department of Fire Services and funded through EOPS. The study looked at best practice states while identifying shortcomings with the current plan and made recommendations for ways to improve the plan, many of which the committee has completed and will continue to work on. The Fire Mobilization Committee works in partnership with FCAM, MEMA, DFS and DPH and that collaborative effort will soon result in a more formal document being released that will cover all aspects of the plan. The Fire Mobilization Committee meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at Milford Fire Headquarters and is open to all members of the Fire Service and other State Agencies. The minutes of our meetings are forwarded to FCAM for posting on the website and all suggestions and comments are welcome. The success of our committee is directly tied to the interest and efforts of all participating members and on behalf of the Fire Mobilization Committee and the 4 Regional Coordinators, Chief Leo Gaudette; Dracut, Chief Roy Jones; Brewster, Chief John P. Touhey; Milford and Chief Brian Duggan; Northampton, I would like to thank them for their efforts. ❚ M A SSA C HUSE TTS FIRE CHIEF 2009 | 33

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Massachusetts Fire Chief 2009

Massachusetts Fire Chief 2009 Contents A Message from the FCAM President Code of Ethics/Vision Statement Bonds of Service Legislative Report The Fire Chief for 2009 and Beyond Leading a Combination Fire Department Remember When Fighting for Code Change Leadership Matters Fire Risk Management - Fire Chiefs - Codes The Current Economy and its Effect on Fire Departments Statewide Fire Mobilization Plan Beware of the Truss Index of Advertisers

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