REPORT TO

MAYOR AND COUNCIL

PRESENTED: MARCH 9, 2009 - SPECIAL MEETING REPORT: 09-29

FROM: PROTECTIVE SERVICES DIVISION FILE: 2780/20
SUBJECT: EXTREME WEATHER CHALLENGES

RECOMMENDATION(S):
That Council receives this report “Extreme Weather Challenges” between December 13, 2008
and January 12, 2009” for information.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The lower mainland experienced some severe weather patterns in the winter of 2008/09
resulting in larges amounts of snowfall which continued to accumulate and remain for an
extraordinary period of time for this region.

During the period of extreme weather between December 13, 2008 and January 12, 2009 the
Township of Langley Fire Department responded to 535 calls for service. This number is up
34% from the same period the previous year in which we attended 399 calls for service. The
RCMP reported 2873 calls for service for the same period down 7.8% from the same period in
the previous year. The B.C. Ambulance Service was also very busy but able to attend every
request without undue delay.

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to inform Council of the of the emergency incidents, the challenges
encountered and the coordination of services experienced during the period of extreme weather
falling between December 13, 2008 and January 12, 2009.
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Page 2 . . .

DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: FIRE
Staff has reviewed the call volume for Fire Department calls for service during the period of
December 13, 2008 to January 13, 2009 inclusive. We received 535 calls for service during this
period ranging from Barn Fires, Medical Calls (MESA), Motor Vehicle Accidents (MVA),
Rescues, Downed Hydro Wires, Assist the Public, Large Animal Rescues and a variety of other
requests for assistance.

Fire apparatus are fairly mobile during adverse winter driving conditions; however the extreme
snowfall did pose some difficulties for the responding crews. Traffic was congested and slow
with little or no room to pull over to yield the right-of-way to emergency vehicles, intersections
were blocked by vehicles that had come to a stop and could not get traction to leave the
intersection, particularly where the intersection has an incline. During the periods of heavy
accumulation of snow prior to snow removal, some of our apparatus had tire chains installed for
traction purposes. While traveling with tire chains installed our vehicles are restricted to a
maximum of 50 km/hr resulting in a slightly slower response.

We experienced a major barn fire in which we had apparatus deployed from every fire station in
the Township. During that fire we also experienced multiple other calls for assistance such as
MESA calls and MVA's taxing our resources to the limit.

Although we experienced a major increase in our call volume and worked our career and paid-
call crews to the limit, we were able to answer every call without any occurrences or injuries to
our members. We are not aware of any significant problems that occurred due to the delays due
to the extreme weather.

DISSCUSSION/ANALYSIS: RCMP

The RCMP provides a written summary stating the following:

During the recent extreme weather conditions that occurred in the Lower Mainland, Langley
RCMP received 2873 calls for service, as compared to 3116 calls for service the previous year.
This is a decrease of 7.8% in its call volume.

The calls were a mix of Criminal Code, Provincial Statute, Traffic Offences and Assistance to
the General Public and other agencies.

During the winter months all of our police cars are equipped with snow tires and we also carry
chains for all the vehicles. In addition, we have three (3) 4X4 vehicles that can be used in the
most adverse of conditions. The main routes were well maintained but the side roads were more
of a challenge. Like most drivers, we were hampered by the heavy snow fall and it did take
longer to get to some calls, but there were no major consequences caused by it.

Contact and liaison with the TOL Public Works worked well and they did their best to assist us
whenever emergency situations came up.

DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: B.C. AMBULANCE SERVICE

BCAS has not provided a formal report. However, staff discussion with local BCAS Station
Chiefs has indicated that they too, were extremely busy during the weather events. They were
able to respond to most areas without significant problems but had some minor difficulty with
some rural side roads. They have indicated their biggest challenges were accessing long rural
private driveways and at times were forced to stage on the street and proceed on foot with their
EXTREME WEATHER CHALLENGES
Page 3 . . .

equipment to access the patient. Firefighters were on hand to assist most times this occurred.
BCAS radio systems are not interlinked with municipal radios but the police, fire and ambulance
dispatch centre’s are in constant contact. They indicate Township public works personnel
responded quickly when requested.

Interdivisional Implications
The Township of Langley Fire Department and the Langley RCMP will continue to work with the
Public Works and Bylaw Divisions as well as other emergency agencies to maintain a high level
of service to general public and taxpayers of the Township of Langley. This will be achieved by
maintaining an understanding of each division’s level of service, radio communication and a
commitment to assist each other with whatever is required to handle calls for service. Langley
agencies and our dispatch centre’s will continue to maintain contact with the B.C. Ambulance
Service to assist and mitigate any challenges that may arise.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce Ferguson
ASSISTANT CHIEF/OPERATIONS
for
PROTECTIVE SERVICES