R2021-104 2021-05-24 RESOLUTION NO. R2021-104
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Pearland, Texas, authorizing
the City Manager or his designee to enter into an Automatic Mutual Aid
Agreement with Fort Bend County Emergency Services District No. 7.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS:
Section 1. That certain Automatic Mutual Aid Agreement by and between the City of
Pearland and Fort Bend County Emergency Services District No. 7, 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 an Automatic Mutual Aid Agreement with Fort Bend County
Emergency Services District No. 7.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this the 24th day of May, A.D., 2021.
J VIN OLE
MAYOR
ATT T:
C Y TAL ROAN, TRMC, CMC
CITY SECRETARY L`°• ��.
rifkk -
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
••,,,I, 411,,,,N, ,,,J�
DARRIN M. COKER
CITY ATTORNEY
Agenda Item #F.
AGREEMENT FOR AUTOMATIC MUTUAL AID ASSISTANCE BETWEEN
FORT BEND COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICE DISTRICT NO.7 AND THE CITY OF
PEARLAND
RECITALS
WHEREAS, Fort Bend County Emergency Services District No. 7 (FBESD#7)and the
City of Pearland ("City") currently provide fire protection and other emergency response
services to local residents in their respective jurisdictions or service areas.
WHEREAS, FBESD #7 and the City have previously cooperated in the provision of
emergency and fire protection services through mutual aid or first responder contracts.
WHEREAS, FBESD#7 and the City desire to augment resources and capabilities within
the geographic boundaries of their respective service areas by responding to and
dispatching emergency calls on an automatic assistance basis so that the nearest
available unit responds to building fires regardless of the jurisdiction involved.
WHEREAS,it is the intent of this"Agreement For Automatic Aid Assistance Between Fort
Bend County Emergency Services District No.7 and the City of Pearland"("Agreement")
that the capabilities and coordination of the each of the parties' abilities to protect lives
and property be enhanced.
TERMS
1. The parties to this Agreement are the City of Pearland, Fort Bend County, acting
by and though its Pearland Fire Department (PFD), and Fort Bend County Emergency
Services District No. 7, located in Fort Bend County, Texas. The initial term of this
Agreement shall be for one-year, effective June 1, 2021, and shall automatically
renew for nine successive one-year terms unless terminated pursuant to Section 20.
2. The parties agree to automatically dispatch the nearest available single fire
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
apparatus to the scene of a building fire within the automatic aid agreement service area.
The service areas subject to this Agreement are shown on the map attached as Exhibit
A attached hereto. The "nearest available single fire apparatus" shall mean that unit of
any party that meets the requirements for a fire engine pumper or fire engine aerial
apparatus and can respond the most expeditiously to a call.A party shall respond only to
the extent that a unit is readily available.
3. FBESD #7 and PFD shall respond to all building fires within the automatic
aid agreement service area defined in Exhibit A,24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4. The parties agree to follow the National Incident Management System(NIMS)as
promulgated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to provide for the efficient
management of emergencies and for the safety of firefighters through the use of standard
terminology, reporting relationships, and support structures for those emergencies
requiring the use of units from the parties.
5. The parties agree to work cooperatively to acquire equipment designed to
maximize the compatibility of the equipment held by both parties; however, neither party
shall be bound by this Agreement to purchase certain equipment requested by the other
party. Each party shall be solely responsible for its equipment or property, including loss
or damage thereto, in the performance of this Agreement.
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
6. All career fire fighters shall have current certifications from the Texas Commission
on Fire Protection.Volunteer firefighters will be trained according to State Firemen's and
Fire Marshal's Association of Texas standards and have met certification requirements.
7. Each party shall be responsible for injuries or death to its employees and
volunteers while performing services under this Agreement.A party shall not be liable for
benefits or any other compensation for injuries to or death of the other party's employees
or volunteers while performing services under this Agreement.An employee or volunteer
shall be deemed to be performing services when en route to,en route from or at the scene
of a call or emergency.
S. Specifically citing Texas Government Code Section 791.006 (a-1), the parties
agree that, for purposes of determining civil liability for non-party claims, the act of any
person or persons while fighting fires, providing rescue services, providing first response
EMS services,traveling to or from any type of emergency call or emergency scene, or in
any manner furnishing services in accordance with this Agreement,shall be the act of the
party performing such act. The payment of any and all civil or other liability, including
negligence, resulting from the furnishing of services under this Agreement is the
responsibility of the individual party performing such acts. This shall specifically include,
but not be limited to,the payment of court costs,expenses, and attorneys'fees resulting
from any such claim or lawsuit. The parties agree that the assignment of
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
liability described in this Section 9 is intended to be different than liability otherwise
assigned under Section 791.006(a)of the Texas Government Code.
9. It is expressly understood and agreed that this Agreement does not waive any
immunity or defense that would otherwise be available to a party against third-party claims
arising from activities performed under this Agreement.
10. The parties agree to cooperate in the development of joint procedures and
protocols, including but not limited to dispatch, communications coordination, training,
health and safety, and other activities that will enhance the ability of the fire departments
to fulfill their missions.
11. When responding to a call for automatic aid outside its regular service area the
assisting party shall keep a record of"time of dispatch"and"response time"for each call
responded to and such other necessary information or reports required by the receiving
party for its record-keeping purposes.
12. The parties agree to comply with all applicable state and federal laws and
requirements applicable in the performance of services. The parties agree to cooperate
in executing such further or subsidiary agreements as may be required.
13. Calls outside the service area depicted in Exhibit A shall be considered requests
for mutual aid and responses may be undertaken at the sole discretion of the assisting
party. Assistance provided as mutual aid shall also be governed by the terms of this
Agreement provided that neither party shall be obligated to pay any compensation or
other fees to the other for mutual aid assistance.
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
14. No term or provision of this Agreement is intended to or shall be deemed to create
any rights in any person,firm, corporation or other entity not a party hereto, and no such
person or entity shall have any cause of action under this Agreement.
15. Unless specifically agreed to in writing by both parties for particular incidents,
except as provided in Section 4, neither party shall be reimbursed by the other party for
any costs incurred pursuant to this Agreement. The parties agree that all payments
required to be made by a party under this Agreement shall be made from current
revenues, as required by Section 791.011(d)(3)of the Texas Government Code, or other
applicable law.The parties agree to cooperate with each other in seeking reimbursement
from state or federal authorities to the extent such opportunities present themselves.
16. Beginning June 1, 2021, this Agreement supersedes any previous
agreement regarding automatic aid between the parties and does not affect the mutual
aid agreement between the parties. Any previous statement or understanding not
included in this Agreement shall be of no force or effect until executed as an amendment
to this Agreement.
17. The parties agree to cooperate in an annual evaluation of the Automatic Mutual
Aid Agreement in order to ensure that terms of the agreement are providing an efficient
enhancement of both parties ability to protect fives and property.
18. No term or provision in this Agreement is intended to create a partnership or joint
venture.
19. The parties agree to schedule joint training exercises between the stations likely
to provide services under this Agreement as soon as possible, and to periodically meet
to review procedures and operations, and to make such adjustments to the Agreement
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
as may prove mutually beneficial.
20. Either party may terminate this agreement with 90 days written advance notice. If
for any reason any provision of this Agreement is held invalid by a court of competent
jurisdiction,such holding shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remaining paragraphs of
this Agreement but shall be confined in its operations to the specific sections, sentences,
clauses or parts of this Agreement and shall not affect or prejudice in any way the validity
of this Agreement in any other instance.
FORT BEND COUNTY EME CY CITY OF PE ND
SERVICE DIS CT NO.
By: By:
Its: President Its: City Mana r
EXHIBITS:
EXHIBIT A—Service Areas
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
EXHIBIT
A
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Agenda Item #F.
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Agenda Item #F.
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Page 159 of 555
City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
Memo 26 April 2021
To: Mayor and City Council members
Forthcoming automatic aid for fire
roeIte, To: Ron Fraser, Assistant Cit f anager responses with Fresno FD
c? c forthcoming. Clay
From: Vance Riley, Fir- ' ief
T [ X 3
,, Date: April 19, i 1
sr. s9
Re: Mutual Aid and Automatic Mutual Aid
Executive Summary
The Fresno Fire Department has transitioned to a combination fire department with full-time
staffing in addition to their volunteers. Fresno FD has requested an Automatic Mutual Aid
Agreement with the Pearland Fire Department.
As this requested Mutual Aid agreement differs from those with other area fire departments, this
document further discusses the differences between Mutual Aid Upon Request Agreements and
Automatic Mutual Aid Agreements and their respective uses by the City of Pearland Fire
Department. An Automatic Mutual Aid Agreement is beneficial to both Departments as it can
improve deployment (both speed and weight of resources) for each agency. The information is
followed by a recommendation for adoption of an agreement with Fresno Fire Department.
Background
Fire Departments have been providing mutual aid (MA)to each other since the beginnings of the
American fire service in the 1700s.At the start of the 1900s, many of the MA Agreements became
captured in formal, legal documents between governmental agencies and/or fire departments,
often being written as agreements between two specific cities or two specific fire departments.As
time moved forward, other public safety(including EMS and Police) agencies have followed suit
and drafted their own MA agreements. Post 9/11, and as a lesson learned, it became
commonplace for counties to have one collective MA agreement which all cities sign and agree
to support, which, in turn, reduced the number of individual agency-to-agency MA agreements.
MA has been provided across agencies for several reasons, including the following:
Example 1:There is a single emergency incident in City A which exceeds that city's ability
to handle with its normal public safety resources, so, in response, City B provides
resources directly to the incident scene. For example, Nassau Bay recently had a large
multi-story condominium fire that far-exceeded the capabilities of its' Fire Department. In
response to this incident, 10 other cities sent fire apparatus to assist with that fire.
Example 2: There are multiple simultaneous emergency incidents in City A, and City A
has no other available resources to handle any additional emergency incidents. In this
instance, City B provides resources directly to the next emergency incident. For example,
if Pearland has all six of its on-duty ambulances deployed to emergencies, and another
emergency medical call is received on the east side of Pearland, Pearland FD would
request that the Friendswood FD send their ambulance directly to the incident scene.
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
Example 3: City A anticipates exceeding their resource capabilities, and City B sends
resources to stand by to assist with emergency incidents. For example, City A has a large
public gathering or sporting event, which requires an extensive majority of support from
its' on-duty force. In this instance, City B sends an ambulance to standby at a fire station
or a staging area to handle other incidents which may arise in City A. A recent example is
the George Floyd Internment in Pearland last year.
Types of Mutual Aid
MA consists of two basic types:
A. MA Upon Request. This is the most common type of MA, and the most common type of
broad-based MA agreement. A City places a specific request based upon the incident or
the event need at the time it occurs. This "call us when you need us" approach covers
most of examples 1-3 shown above.
B. Automatic Mutual Aid. This type of MA is less common. It requires a specific MA
agreement between cities, and most often includes pre-determined, specific responses
with specific types of resources. It is called Automatic MA because the request is
predetermined and automatically dispatched based upon the agreement. With Automatic
MA the responding Incident Commander does not need to make a specific request for MA.
Automatic MA agreements come in a wide variety of forms. For example, City B has a fire
station closer to a portion of City A than any of City A's fire stations. To provide the best
response times, City A's dispatch agency automatically requests City B, along with
dispatching its own City A FD, for assistance with any fire in that area of City A which is
located closer to City B's fire station.These types of Automatic MA agreements are much
more common in large, urban, suburban, metropolitan area fire departments.
C. In general, Automatic MA provides resources much faster than MA Upon Request.
Costs
MA agreements usually specify that the agency providing MA is responsible for their own costs
and liable for their own actions. Often, these agreements set limits so that providing cities may
expect some reimbursement from the requesting city if their resources are deployed for lengthy
periods(usually longer than 12 hours).The expectation, and history of these arrangements is that
neighbors help neighbors in times of need without too much concern for costs.
The City of Pearland does monitor the number of requests for MA on a quarterly basis. A few
years ago, Brazoria County ESD #3 (Manvel EMS) was requesting an excessive amount of MA
(several times a week).We agreed to continue to provide MA with the understanding that BCESD
#3 would, as soon as possible, increase their own resources and reduce demand on our
resources. During 2020, we provided MA Upon Request to BCESD #3 EMS less than one time
per week, on average.
Historically, the larger, older agencies provide more MA to the smaller and/or newer neighboring
agencies. Usually, this is because the smaller cities are still growing and developing at a rate
faster than they can provide service. Once the neighboring agencies mature and cultivate their
public safety resources, there are usually fewer requests for MA.
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item #F.
Future
The Citygate Standards of Cover and Staffing Utilization Study of 2017 noted that, except for the
City of Houston,the Fire Departments located immediately adjacent to the City of Pearland were,
for the most part, all volunteer. Their unstaffed fire stations would not be considered helpful in
improving the deployment (weight and speed) of Pearland resources with an Automatic MA
agreement. Since that time, Fort Bend Emergency Services District#7 (Fresno) has developed
and transitioned to having fire apparatus staffed 24/7/365. FB ESD #7 has requested an
Automatic MA agreement with the City of Pearland. The proposed agreement would
automatically send one Fresno fire apparatus (not medical) to any structure fire in Pearland
located west of 288. In return, one Pearland fire apparatus would be automatically dispatched
with one fire truck to any structure fire within part of FB ESD#7, located north of Highway 6 and
west of FM 521. Maps of these areas are attached.The arrangement provides a great mutual aid
opportunity,as it would allow us to send one less PFD unit to structure fires west of 288, keeping
that unit available for other responses on the east side of Pearland. Some parts of Fresno are
closer to Pearland Fire Stations and vice versa.
In addition,the proposed agreement includes joint training between the two Fire Departments that
helps consistency of performance in either Fresno or Pearland, regardless of type of mutual aid
in the future.We look forward to bringing this Automatic MA Agreement with FB ESD#7 to Council
for their consideration at a May 2021 Council meeting.
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City Council Regular Meeting - May 24 2021
Agenda Item#F.
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