R-2016-223 2016-12-12RESOLUTION NO. R2016-223
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Pearland, Texas, authorizing the
City Manager or his designee to enter into a Mutual Aid Fire Protection
Agreement.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS:
Section 1. That certain Mutual Aid agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as
Exhibit "A" and made a part hereof for all purposes, is hereby authorized and approved.
Section 2. That the City Manager or his designee is hereby authorized to execute and
the City Secretary to attest a Mutual Aid.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this the 12th day of December, A.D., 2016.
ATTEST:
•
TOM REID
MAYOR
FING, T
ETARY
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DARRIN M. COKER
CITY ATTORNEY
MUTUAL AID FIRE PROTECTION & AGREEMENT
THE STATE OF TEXAS §
HARRIS COUNTY
This Agreement is made and entered into by and between the "Entities", as described in
Section IX Definitions, of Harris County, and adjoining "Entities, (hereinafter referred to as the
"Parties") that have signed this Agreement.
Whereas, the undersigned Parties desire to enter into a mutual aid fire protection agreement
wherein the equipment, facilities, and trained personnel of each fire department are available to the
other Parties in this mutual aid agreement on an as requested basis.
Now therefore, that in consideration of the mutual covenants, agreements and benefits to all
Parties, it is hereby AGREED as follows:
I.
Scope of Services
A. During the term of this Agreement, the Parties agree to provide upon request such fire
protection and suppression personnel and to make available such equipment or facilities as may be
needed for the suppression of fires or the duties and responsibilities associated with saving lives
and property within the jurisdictional areas of the requesting department; provided that the
personnel, equipment or facilities requested are not otherwise required within the jurisdiction as
determined by the Fire Chief or Chief Fire Service Officer or his/her designated representative of
the providing party. It is expressly understood and agreed by all Parties hereto that no providing
Party shall be required to use any equipment, facilities and/or personnel where such use would
prevent or disrupt adequate protection of its own jurisdictional area. Requests for mutual aid made
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pursuant to this Agreement shall be made by and to the respective Fire Chiefs or Chief Fire Safety
Officers or their designated representatives.
B. The Parties agree that a request will only be made when an emergency occurs in their
jurisdiction that cannot be handled by the resources of that jurisdiction and is beyond the
requesting party's capabilities.
C. The Parties agree:
a. to maintain the work force and equipment needed to sufficiently control fires or
other emergencies common to the saving of lives and property which are most
likely to occur within their jurisdiction;
b. to maintain an emergency action plan for activating their personnel and
equipment within their jurisdiction;
c. to maintain established procedures for the mitigation of emergencies; and
d. to provide all other departments with current lists of the available work force
and or materials and equipment which, under most circumstances, could be
furnished to the requesting department.
D. In the event a local, state or national emergency is declared, this Agreement shall not
constitute a waiver of the rights of the respective parties to claim local, state and/or federal funds
or reimbursements.
E. Notwithstanding Subsection I.A. of this Agreement, if a Party hereto requests mutual aid
assistance that requires a response that exceeds twelve (12) consecutive hours, the Requesting
Party shall reimburse the Responding Party its actual cost for providing mutual aid assistance to
the Requesting Party after the first twelve (12) hours, including costs for personnel, operation and
maintenance of equipment, damaged equipment, food, lodging, and transportation, provided that,
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in no event shall the cost for a service or item be greater than the rate, as such rates are amended
from time to time, set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the
substantially same service or item. FEMA rates are available at http://www.fema.gov. The Parties
mutually agree that a Responding Party shall not be entitled to and will not seek reimbursement
from a Requesting Party for either: (a) assistance provided that does not exceed twelve (12)
consecutive hours or (b) for assistance provided during the initial twelve (12) hours of the
response.
F. Nothing herein shall be construed as a warranty or guaranty of response, whether in terms
of there being appropriate assets available or sufficient personnel being available to respond.
II.
Direction and Control
The requested fire service company(s) or task force(s), [as defined in Section IX
Definitions], shall be under the direction and control of their own company officer or task force
leader. The company will remain intact as a unit, responsible for its own equipment and personnel
throughout the incident. The company officer or task force leader will report to the Command Post
[as defined in Section IX, Definitions] of the Incident Commander [as defined in Section IX,
Definitions] of the requesting department and will make himself/herself and the company or task
force for which they are responsible available for service. The Incident Commander will assume
direction and control of the unit in whole and will give that unit an assignment. The fact that the
task at hand is inherently dangerous must always be considered.
III.
Equipment and Consumable Resources
A. The condition of the equipment must be the sole responsibility of its owner. Except as
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provided by Section I.D. above, if the equipment is damaged or destroyed during the Incident, the
financial responsibility is the owner's which may be recovered through insurance acquired by the
owner or any other resource available to the owner, and the requesting party will never be
responsible for damage to equipment, injury to persons or for the actions of the responding, party.
B. Except as provided by Section I.D. above, any consumable resources may be reimbursed
by or through the Incident Commander's jurisdiction (Requesting Party) provided that sufficient
funds have been appropriated for said purpose. The Incident Commander has a right to recover any
and all cost of the incident from any resources available.
C. In the event the incident receives a Disaster Declaration from State or Federal authority,
the requesting party shall make the claim to include the actual cost involved of responding parties
on the requesting party sub -grant application. The requesting party shall disburse the proportionate
share of state/federal funds to responding parties in a timely manner.
IV.
Term of Agreement
The term of this Agreement shall be for one (1) year with recurring annual renewals for one (1)
year each unless a party gives written notice to terminate. Any Party shall have the right to
terminate upon thirty (30) days written notice to the other Parties. The addition or deletion of
departments to or from this Agreement shall not affect the Agreement as to the remaining Parties.
V.
Amendments
This Agreement can be amended or replaced by a majority of the Parties. All of the Parties
must be notified in writing within thirty (30) days and an open forum must be held in which all of
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the Parties have been invited to attend. The Amendment will not be effective to any party who
does not agree.
VI.
Compliance with All Applicable Laws
The Departments shall observe and comply with all Federal, State, and local laws, rules,
ordinances, and regulations affecting the conduct of services provided and the performance of all
obligations undertaken by this Agreement.
VTL
Legal Considerations
A. All local, State, and Federal laws shall supersede any provisions made in this Agreement.
Any provision so effected will not negate the rest of the Agreement. In case any one or more of the
provisions contained in this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any
respect, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not affect any other provision thereof
and this Agreement shall be construed as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had
never been contained herein.
B. Venue for any proceeding under this Agreement shall be in Harris County, Texas.
C. This Agreement shall become effective upon each Party's signing of said instrument.
D. This Agreement supersedes and replaces all previous Harris County Fire Fighter
Association (HCFFA) Mutual Aid Agreements as between any two Parties to this Agreement
ninety (90) days after execution of this Agreement by those same Parties. This Agreement also
supersedes and replaces any and all previous mutual aid agreements and/or any other similar
agreements of assistance between any two or more Parties to this Agreement upon the execution of
this Agreement by those same Parties.
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VIII.
Liability
A. The Parties agree that except with respect to the matter of reimbursement as otherwise
provided for in this Agreement, each shall be responsible for its own actions and those of its
members while fighting fires, providing rescue services, providing fire responses, emergency
medical services, traveling to or from the emergency scene, or in any manner providing services
pursuant to and within the scope of this Agreement or a supplement thereto.
B. It is expressly understood and agreed by the Parties that neither shall be held liable for
the actions of the other Party or any of the other Party's members while in any manner furnishing
services hereunder.
IX.
Definitions
A. Entities — Any Emergency Services Provider that is fire based or 9-1-1 initiated. These
would include, but not limited to fire departments, 9-1-1 EMS services, and certain Emergency
Service Districts (ESD), cities.
B. Task Force — A group of any type or kind of resource, with communications and a
leader, temporarily assembled for a specific mission (not to exceed five [5] resources).
C. Incident Command Post (ICP) — The field location at which the primary tactical -
level, on -scene incident command functions are performed. The ICP may be co -located with the
incident base or other incident facilities.
D. Incident Commander (IC) — The individual responsible for all incident activities,
including the development of strategies and tactics and the ordering and release of resources. The
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IC has overall authority and responsibility for conducting incident operations and is responsible
for the management of all incident operations at the incident site.
This Agreement, together with all terms and conditions contained herein, is approved and accepted
by the following entities and is executed by their duly authorized representatives:
Entity Authorized Representative Signature
Aldine Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 24
Atascocita Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 46 (for approval only)
Baytown Fire & Rescue
H. C. E.S.D. #75 (for approval only)
Bellaire Fire Department
Champions Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 29
Channelview Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 50
City of Jersey Village Fire Department
Cloverleaf Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 12
Community Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 100 (for approval only)
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Crosby Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 80 (for approval only)
(Crosby area) H. C. E S. D. #5
Cy Fair Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 9 (for approval only)
Cypress Creek EMS
H. C. E.S.D. # 11 (for approval only)
Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 13 (for approval only)
Deer Park Volunteer Fire Department
Eastex Volunteer Fire Department
Northeast Fire & Rescue
H. C. E.S.D. # 10 (for approval only)
Ellington Field Fire Department
Forest Bend Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. M.U.D. # 55
Friendswood Volunteer Fire Department
Galena Park Volunteer Fire Department
Highlands Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 14
Houston Fire Department
Huffman Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 4 (for approval only)
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Seabrook Volunteer Fire Department
Sheldon Community Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 60
South Houston Volunteer Fire Department
Southeast Volunteer Fire Department
Clearbrook City MUD
Southside Place Fire Department
Spring Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 7 (for approval only)
Stafford Fire Department
Tomball Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 15 (for approval only)
Tri-County Volunteer Fire Department
Waller / H. C. E.S.D. # 200 (for approval only)
Village Fire Department
Waller Volunteer Fire Department
Waller / H. C. E.S.D. # 200 (for approval only)
Webster Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 48 Fire Department
West University Place Fire Department
Westfield Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 25 (for approval only)
Westlake Volunteer Fire Department
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Humble Fire Department
Jacinto City Volunteer Fire Department
Katy Fire Department
Klein Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 16 (for approval only)
LaPorte Volunteer Fire Department
League City Volunteer Fire Department
Little York Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 17
Missouri City Fire Department
Nassau Bay Volunteer Fire Department
Northwest Rural EMS
H. C. E.S.D. # 8 (for approval only)
Northwest Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 20
Pasadena Volunteer Fire Department
Pearland Fire Department
Ponderosa Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. # 28 (for approval only)
Port of Houston Fire Department
Rosehill Volunteer Fire Department
H. C. E.S.D. #3 (for approval only)
H. C. E.S.D. #21 (for approval only)
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H. C. E.S.D. # 47
This Agreement may be executed in duplicate counterparts with the same effect as if the
signatures were on the same document. Each multiple original of this document shall be deemed
an original, but all multiple copies together shall constitute one and the same instrument.
CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS
Date
Fire Chief
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Date