Christian Tubbs, MS, MA, EFO, CFO, CFC, MIFireE

NFPA 950 (Standard for Data Development and Exchange for the Fire Service is designed to standardize data for operable information sharing in support of the all-hazards response and to describe a digital information structure and associated requirements and workflows common to fire and emergency services delivery and management for emergency response and administrative use.

It's companion document is NFPA 951 (Guide to Building and Utilizing Digital Information) which is designed to… Show more

NFPA 950 (Standard for Data Development and Exchange for the Fire Service is designed to standardize data for operable information sharing in support of the all-hazards response and to describe a digital information structure and associated requirements and workflows common to fire and emergency services delivery and management for emergency response and administrative use.

It's companion document is NFPA 951 (Guide to Building and Utilizing Digital Information) which is designed to provide guidance in the development of an “integrated information management system” which facilitates information sharing. The resulting system shall be designed to support a communications pathway for all relevant components of the national preparedness and response framework. This document provides information for the development of consistent methods, processes, and tools to capture, utilize, and share data within scalable information systems. This framework supports and sets the stage for effective data exchange at all operational levels and components. The intent of this guide is to provide a framework and environment consistent with NFPA Standard 950 which results in an integrated information management system for Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), Record Management Systems (RMS), and other associated data systems in common use by fire departments. Show less

In October 2014 the Mill Valley Fire Department and Southern Marin Fire Protection District entered into a shared services agreement for the purposes of sharing Battalion Chiefs; creating a single response area for the two agencies. This agreement allowed both agencies to each save the costs of a Battalion Chief FTE. In January 2020, the Battalion Chief Shared Services Agreement was expanded to include the consolidation of the Administrative and Prevention Resources of both agencies. In… Show more

In October 2014 the Mill Valley Fire Department and Southern Marin Fire Protection District entered into a shared services agreement for the purposes of sharing Battalion Chiefs; creating a single response area for the two agencies. This agreement allowed both agencies to each save the costs of a Battalion Chief FTE. In January 2020, the Battalion Chief Shared Services Agreement was expanded to include the consolidation of the Administrative and Prevention Resources of both agencies. In October 2022, after multiple analyses by Staff and by CityGate, the Mill Valley City Council and Board of Directors for the Southern Marin Fire District adopted resolutions approving and directing staff to submit an application to LAFCo, for the District to Annex the City's Fire & EMS Services. The LAFCO Board of Directors approved the application in December 2020 and provided the Agency with its Certificate of Completion. The formal annexation was set for July 1, 2023, thereby culminating an eight year process. Show less

The ISAT was developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) with the guidance from public safety practitioners nationwide. Corner Alliance, Inc. was the contract organization that led development of this product over a multi-year period. they worked with a core team of public safety officials in its ongoing development. We took this draft product to multiple agencies throughout the United States, soliciting key feedback to further refine… Show more

The ISAT was developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) with the guidance from public safety practitioners nationwide. Corner Alliance, Inc. was the contract organization that led development of this product over a multi-year period. they worked with a core team of public safety officials in its ongoing development. We took this draft product to multiple agencies throughout the United States, soliciting key feedback to further refine and improve the tool. The ISAT is a tool for first responders, developed by first responders.

In as little as 20 minutes, the ISAT pinpoints a user's information sharing vulnerabilities and validates a user’s critical capabilities. Users can complete the ISAT with a scenario that operationalizes the line of questioning and offers a consistent frame of reference for users. Additionally, users can click through optional, expanded sections with more specific questions that dive deeper into information sharing issues.

The following scenarios are currently available to users. In addition, users have the option to create their own scenario that is most applicable to them. The scenario-based assessments are available to help you answer-- How do you know what you don’t know? Show less

More than 260,000 people live in Marin County, served by cities, towns, the County of Marin, and well-coordinated fire agencies. Marin’s wildlands and lush vegetation make the neighborhoods beautiful and desirable places to live, but also leave residents and visitors vulnerable to wildfire. Local fire agencies and communities identified the critical need to coordinate wildfire prevention and disaster preparedness, including maintaining defensible space, reducing combustible vegetation, making… Show more

More than 260,000 people live in Marin County, served by cities, towns, the County of Marin, and well-coordinated fire agencies. Marin’s wildlands and lush vegetation make the neighborhoods beautiful and desirable places to live, but also leave residents and visitors vulnerable to wildfire. Local fire agencies and communities identified the critical need to coordinate wildfire prevention and disaster preparedness, including maintaining defensible space, reducing combustible vegetation, making homes fire resistant, and planning for organized evacuation in an emergency. Individual homes and properties are more fire resilient when preparedness is approached at the community scale. The Marin Civil Grand Jury also identified the need for a collective effort by all citizens and property owners as necessary to build a resilient community and reduce the threat of wildfire to life, property, and infrastructure.

In March 2020 the voters of Marin County, through a ballot measure, approved the creation of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority (MWPA), and the collection of a special tax. The tax is estimated to generate approximately $19.7M annually to fund the MWPA and it programs and services that are designed to reduce the risks from wildfire and better prepare the community in the event of such a disaster. These funds, per the adopted ordinance, fund three primary areas: Core functions (60%), Defensible Space Inspection Programs (20%), and Local Mitigation Projects (20%). Show less

The Southern Marin Fire Protection District provides a variety of marine-based services to the San Francisco Bay Area, as part of the San Francisco Bay Area Marine Search & Rescue Council. This includes firefighting capabilities, SAR capabilities, and dive support capabilities. The vessel can operate in all lighting conditions and is equipped with a variety of navigation and low-light capabilities.

This grant was procured to replace the existing fireboat and expand the marine… Show more

The Southern Marin Fire Protection District provides a variety of marine-based services to the San Francisco Bay Area, as part of the San Francisco Bay Area Marine Search & Rescue Council. This includes firefighting capabilities, SAR capabilities, and dive support capabilities. The vessel can operate in all lighting conditions and is equipped with a variety of navigation and low-light capabilities.

This grant was procured to replace the existing fireboat and expand the marine capabilities. The original Fireboat Liberty was a 2004 Metalcraft Firestorm 30, a 30 foot vessel.

The District was awarded a grant in the PSGP2017 budget. The amount funded in the grant was $734,522. The Southern Marin Fire Protection District again selected Metalcraft as the vendor and chose the Firestorm 36' model as the new platform. The total cost of the vessel was $968,838. The newer vessel has a wider beam, is longer offering increased stability, and provides CBRN capability. It is powered by twin Cummins engines with jet propulsion. It has a Darley 1250 GPM pump which can provide water to multiple (4) monitors located on the vessel. Show less

In November 2018 the residents of the Southern Marin Fire District approved the passage of Measure - a parcel tax that would ensure no loss in existing services and would enhance wildfire prevention efforts. The Measure was expected to generate approximately $3.1M annually.

A community survey was conducted February 23rd through March 1st 2018 by opinion research firm FM3 Research, who has extensive experience polling in Northern California Fire Districts. Residents expressed strong… Show more

In November 2018 the residents of the Southern Marin Fire District approved the passage of Measure - a parcel tax that would ensure no loss in existing services and would enhance wildfire prevention efforts. The Measure was expected to generate approximately $3.1M annually.

A community survey was conducted February 23rd through March 1st 2018 by opinion research firm FM3 Research, who has extensive experience polling in Northern California Fire Districts. Residents expressed strong support for maintaining key emergency medical and fire protection services such as attracting and retaining qualified professional paramedics, maintaining high cardiac and stroke survivability standards, maintaining local fire protection and 9-1-1 response times, and improving the District’s ability to react to and contain wildland fires.

The passage of this measure was essential in ensuring that the Southern Marin Fire Protection District could continue to provide essential services, as well as enhance wildfire risk reduction efforts. Approximately $1M of the $3.1M raised annually, is dedicated to reducing the risks from wildland fire. Show less

The City of Mill Valley and the Southern Marin Fire District are governing areas that adjoin each other. Both agencies have relatively smaller Fire agencies (Mill Valley has two fire stations, Southern Marin has three). For many years there have been discussions and analyses conducted regarding consolidation opportunities in the Southern part of Marin County. In 2014 conditions offered an opportunity to implement a trial program of limited resource sharing. Specifically the group targeted… Show more

The City of Mill Valley and the Southern Marin Fire District are governing areas that adjoin each other. Both agencies have relatively smaller Fire agencies (Mill Valley has two fire stations, Southern Marin has three). For many years there have been discussions and analyses conducted regarding consolidation opportunities in the Southern part of Marin County. In 2014 conditions offered an opportunity to implement a trial program of limited resource sharing. Specifically the group targeted for this opportunity was the sharing of Battalion Chiefs. This trial program led to the adoption of a formal Shared Services Agreement between the two agencies. Highlights from this Shared Personnel Agreement include:

• Combined Battalion Chief (BC) program – allows for one BC on duty for both organizations with duty Battalion Chiefs covering a larger area.

• Cost savings by having a shared battalion chief overtime list.

• Developed a task book program to enable qualified Captains to work out of grade as a Battalion Chief (BC).

• Created a training officer (TO) (40-hour work week) that has rotated between both organizations. This addition has improved our training program and enables a consistent program for both agencies.

• The Shared Personnel program saves over $500,000 annually between both organizations in operational costs and salary savings. And, has saved approximately $1.5 million between both organizations since its inception (2014-2017).

This shared working relationship and experience has also identified opportunities for additional shared services / consolidations and improved efficiency. Currently the organizations are working on merging the two Fire Chief positions into a single executive team resulting in a single Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief. The long term offers opportunity for a full merger with some form of governance structure (Annexation, Fire Authority, Contract for Services, etc).
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Originally constructed in 1962 to serve a volunteer firefighting force; after a number of structural and programmatic assessments of the facility it was determined that the building was seismically unsafe and did not meet the current operational or programmatic needs of a fulltime Firefighting Department. In 2011 the Mercer Island City Council authorized the replacement of the existing facility.

The City of Mercer Island contracted the Architectural Firm Miller Hull and with key… Show more

Originally constructed in 1962 to serve a volunteer firefighting force; after a number of structural and programmatic assessments of the facility it was determined that the building was seismically unsafe and did not meet the current operational or programmatic needs of a fulltime Firefighting Department. In 2011 the Mercer Island City Council authorized the replacement of the existing facility.

The City of Mercer Island contracted the Architectural Firm Miller Hull and with key staff members designed a facility that the City Council authorized to go to bid. Construction was performed by Corp, Inc. As part of the required public art for this fire station, two pieces of concrete and steel from the World Trade Centers and the 9/11 event were acquired. The City of Mercer Island received the last item released by the Port Authority of New Jersey and New York. The items were then used in artwork designed by John Sisko and Jim Brown.

Firefighting staff and equipment were moved to an adjacent site temporarily to allow for the demolition of the old facility and construction of the new facility. The Facility opened in May 2015 and incorporates the latest seismic technologies, as well as sustainable technologies resulting in a highly efficient building.
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In 2009 the City of Mercer Island, like many local government entities, began to feel the impacts of the 2008 recession. Faced with reduced revenues and other economic realities, the City Manager, with his leadership team of City Directors and Police and Fire Chief, embarked on a comprehensive series of special sessions to identify options to bridge the economic challenges the City was facing.

A number of strategies were identified. For the Fire Department, two were identified by the… Show more

In 2009 the City of Mercer Island, like many local government entities, began to feel the impacts of the 2008 recession. Faced with reduced revenues and other economic realities, the City Manager, with his leadership team of City Directors and Police and Fire Chief, embarked on a comprehensive series of special sessions to identify options to bridge the economic challenges the City was facing.

A number of strategies were identified. For the Fire Department, two were identified by the City Manager as strategies to initiate. The first was the implementation of a BLS fee for Transport Program that resulted in an increased revenue stream of about $280K annually.

The second strategy was the elimination of the Fire Marshal, and re-allocation and re-engineering of the work flow and responsibilities associated with the plan review and inspection process. The Fire Department partnered with the Development Services Group within the City to design a new work flow and model that ideally did not reduce the customer service levels expected by the community and mandated by the City Council. The process became a multi-year endeavor that ultimately was not successful.

In late 2013 discussions were underway internally to begin preparing a request to the City Council to re-instate the Fire Marshal position. In the fall of 2014 the City Council authorized the adoption of the Fire Marshal position back within the Fire Department. Today the service goals and objectives for plans review, inspections and risk reduction services are being achieved. Show less

In 2012 the King County Fire Chiefs adopted an initiative, under the Leadership of KCFCA President Chief Randy Krause, that addressed a need for new Fire Chiefs arriving in King County. While some Fire Chiefs are appointed from King County Fire Agencies, some are appointed from agencies outside King County.

King County’s Fire Service and Medic One programs are unique and preparing incoming Fire Chiefs with this background and foundation was determined to be a valuable resource the… Show more

In 2012 the King County Fire Chiefs adopted an initiative, under the Leadership of KCFCA President Chief Randy Krause, that addressed a need for new Fire Chiefs arriving in King County. While some Fire Chiefs are appointed from King County Fire Agencies, some are appointed from agencies outside King County.

King County’s Fire Service and Medic One programs are unique and preparing incoming Fire Chiefs with this background and foundation was determined to be a valuable resource the King County Fire Chiefs could adopt and mature for incoming Chiefs.

The concept behind the initiative was to provide new Fire Chiefs with an introduction to the King County area, as well as specifics about the fire agencies, governing structures, political entities and partnerships. Its objective was to better prepare new Fire Chiefs coming into King County and to serve the communities and agencies to which they were hired.

One element of this initiative was the development of a video that could be posted to the King County Fire Chiefs website, as well as be produced on a DVD that could be include a New Fire Chiefs Packet. The Video, produced by 4th Avenue Media, is the culmination of the vision to create a Video as part of the overall New Chiefs Packet.
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In late 2009 the City Manager directed the Fire Chief to develop a proposal to implement a fee for transport program, as part of an economic strategy to help Mercer Island effectively manage effects from the recession.

The project encountered a number of challenges from both internal and external forces. Challenges included opposition from the bargaining unit and medical directors; mixed political support at the City Council level; a regional EMS culture that had not previously… Show more

In late 2009 the City Manager directed the Fire Chief to develop a proposal to implement a fee for transport program, as part of an economic strategy to help Mercer Island effectively manage effects from the recession.

The project encountered a number of challenges from both internal and external forces. Challenges included opposition from the bargaining unit and medical directors; mixed political support at the City Council level; a regional EMS culture that had not previously implemented any fee based services and navigating through a regional Medic One levy re-authorization process that had just begun.

The Council, acting with caution, authorized an ordinance and resolution that created the implementation of a fee for transport program, though it initially included a one-year sunset clause. The City Council further directed the Fire Chief to provide a bi-annual report based on specific benchmarks designed to measure impacts to the baseline 911 services. Since the first year the City Council removed the sunset clause and further implemented a mileage fee in addition to the base fee. Systems Design, a local EMS billing agency, collects all transport fees.

Though bargaining unit employees publicly and privately expressed their concerns with implementing this program, Council’s authorization and direction to the Fire Chief resulted in a team effort to implement a successful program. Ultimately employees came to embrace the value they experienced in transporting patients and the resulting continuity of care, and most have come to accept and in some cases, embrace the value that resulted from fee collections.

The program resulted in generating better than projected revenues and has not negatively impacted baseline 911 services, and in fact has improved the continuity of patient care.
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