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AFMA, Sun City Fire work together
Staffing shared as needed
Posted
Because of this, some situations develop when AFMA or Sun City cannot provide coverage for a vacancy. The IGA with Sun City Fire allows us to share personnel so we can maintain constant staffing on our apparatus to provide the best customer service to our communities and for the safety of our firefighters.”
Vacancies within a fire department can be a strain on resources, that could potentially effect emergency service.
With a lingering pandemic and the exposure of emergency service personnel to COVID-19, having a plan in place to have effective services is important, which is why the Arizona Fire & Medical Authority and Sun City Fire and Medical Department initiated an intergovernmental agreement in June of 2001 to ensure emergency services preparedness was never threatened.
Looking ahead at intergovernmental agreements between agencies, AFMA Division Chief Kane Nixon said due to the success of the Sun City Fire shared staffing agreement, AFMA is exploring options for similar agreements with other regional fire agencies.
Sun City Fire and Medical Department already has IGAs with other agencies, most notably Daisy Mountain Fire District for shared staffing and shared maintenance.
AFMA Captain Spencer Snyder explained how scheduled and unscheduled vacancies create a significant strain on the resources available to maintain a complete emergency services schedule with the Authority.
“Because of this, some situations develop when AFMA or Sun City cannot provide coverage for a vacancy. The IGA with Sun City Fire allows us to share personnel so we can maintain constant staffing on our apparatus to provide the best customer service to our communities and for the safety of our firefighters. Both agencies established policies and guidelines for personnel to follow when utilizing this agreement,” he explained.
The IGA between the two organizations is for staffing, and works in both directions. Sun City Fire and Medical Department Battalion Chief Rob Schmitz said if a firefighter is out sick, on vacation or industrial leave and there is no one internally to work overtime to fill the opening, the organization reaches out to AFMA to ask if anyone is available to work overtime to fill the vacancy and AFMA can do the same. Mr. Spencer said the agreement is typically used on short notice when an unpredicted vacancy occurs on AFMA’s schedule.
“Once the Authority has exhausted all internal means of back-filling the vacancy, we implement the intergovernmental agreement with Sun City Fire,” he said.
AFMA posted photos June 18 to the Authority’s Twitter page from the Big Horn Fire in Arizona where the two organizations worked side-by-side. Mr. Schmitz said the wildland shared service is an intergovernmental agreement through the Central Arizona Wildland Response Team, which was formed in 2003 to staff requests by a few different agencies to provide resources in times of a wildland fire.
“They may request a certain type of brush truck and four people to staff it, again one agency may have the resources to fully meet the request or may use other agencies in this consortium to fulfill it,” he explained. “As for calls, most agencies in the Phoenix metropolitan area belong to the automatic-aid system, the closest available resources respond to a request for service, no matter the jurisdictional lines.”
The main advantage of having the agreement between the organizations, according to Mr. Schmitz, is the communities have fully staffed fire and/or EMS companies to provide the best service. AFMA Deputy Chief Eric Kriwer said both agencies are committed to the minimum staffing agreements established by the automatic-aid system that serves both communities.
“Additionally, this agreement helps our departments assure that we meet the requirement of four-person staffing on our engine and ladder companies while supporting each other during challenging staffing scenarios,” he explained. “While these instances are rare, they do happen, and we are thankful to work together to make sure our residents get excellent service delivery. Our personnel can recover adequately to return to work, ready to go.”
There is no impact to funding or budgeting for either agency in terms of the agreement. AFMA Division Chief Robert Olmstead said the agency that sends the staffing will pay the standard overtime rate for the individual then bill the other department to cover wages of the employee fully. Mr. Schmitz said the cost is a budgeted item from year to year and rather than pay the money out for the position internally, it goes to the other agency.
I am passionate about sports and community writing and shining the light on positivity, while delivering the facts. I have been with the Independent team for five months, but in the game for 15 years. I am a proud Grand Canyon University alumni. Born and raised in Peoria, I also am blessed to have a street named after me called Jennifer Rose Court.
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