Summer is in full flight and the temperatures in Southern Ontario have certainly reflected that, hot hot hot. We start this issue with a look at some of the events and tours our members have participated in since our last newsletter was published.  Recent events included the distribution of new ID cards and the YYZ Airport Watch T-shirts that many of members ordered and now proudly wear out and around YYZ.  In early June the ORBIS DC-10 made a rare visit to YYZ. Quite a few of our members were able to get a close up look at this sight-saving flying hospital.  The GTAA officially opened the new extension at Terminal 3 on June 16th.  This area provides members with a fairly decent indoor vantage point for views of the apron area. We close this issue of The Spotter Dude with an excellent article that appeared in the Fire Services Journal that gives a great insight into the GTAA Fire Service.  As members of the Airport Watch will have an opportunity to visit the GTAA Fire Services in August (see Tours & Events below), the article comes at a perfect time.

Torontonians have called it Malton Airport and Toronto International Airport, until its name was changed to Pearson International Airport in an appropriate show of respect to the former Prime Minister, statesman, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lester B. Pearson. And while it still sits at the northwest corner of Toronto, it's now surrounded by residences and businesses alike, a sign of the rapidly changing pace and growth in the "GTA" - the Greater Toronto Area.

The Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) is responsible for administering and maintaining the activities of the modern Pearson International Airport. With about 800 employees of its own, and another 10,000 employees of airport companies utilizing the site, the GTAA acts as the catalyst for about 30 million travelers each year, a virtual city unto itself - complete with all the needs and challengers.

Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting

If you ask a municipal fire service (primarily structural), or wild land (primarily forest) firefighter about Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF), for the most part they'll likely only be able to tell you that it's different. They'll probably focus on the "crash" truck; an aggressively unique ARFF tool. It's common to identify differences because they're easier to see. But all is not necessarily as it appears. When it come to ARFF - the differences are far fewer than the many similarities.

The GTAA fire service at Pearson is a sophisticated, leading-edge emergency response agency running some 4,000 calls per year (3,908 during 2004), of which approximately 60% are medical, and 40% are fire-rescue related. In fact, call volume has increased about 8% per year since the year 2000.

In all, 68 operational firefighting staff, supported by six administrators, seven training officers, and five fire prevention officers are capable of putting six ARFF "crash" trucks, three structural firefighting pumpers, one rescue squad, one mini-pumper and a host of support vehicles into action in seconds. And that's exactly what they did on August 2, 2005 when an Air France A-340 jetliner went off runway 24 left (the left one of two parallel runways facing 240 degrees) with 309 people (12 crew and 297 passengers) on board. The GTAA fire service response time was an incredibly impressive 52 seconds, clearly contributing to the successful rescue of everyone on board without and serious injuries.

ARFF firefighters used to be included within the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the organization representing most urban municipal firefighters in North America, until they were removed to be represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) a Canadian organization representing federal government employees. This changed in 1997, when the GTAA took over responsibility for Pearson and the firefighters became an independent body under the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). In 2001, however, the firefighters re-affiliated with the IAFF as a local with the 15th District along with other municipal firefighters. The benefits of re-affiliation include that the GTAA firefighters are now represented by people who understand firefighting.

The GTAA Fire Service

Fire Chief Mike Figliola spent 16 years with the nearby Toronto Fire Services before joining the GTAA and later becoming Fire Chief in 2004. As a firefighter in Toronto, he was active with the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters Association, where he served in a number of capacities, including as Secretary-Treasurer of the firefighters benevolent fund, and assistant to the Treasurer (1993 to 1997).

He's always been a lifelong learner with a strong interest in financing; earning his Bachelor of Science (BSc.) degree and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation while working with Toronto Fire, and most recently completing his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. He holds the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) designation in Canada, and is currently enrolled in programs towards a degree in law. After only a short time speaking with him, it was clear that Chief Figliola is educated, motivated, and an innovative thinker genuinely concerned about firefighters and the GTAA.

According to Chief Figliola, the primary differences between municipal structural firefighting and what "we" do at the GTAA is in the additional challenges of meeting stringent ARFF qualifications. Like nearby municipal fire departments, they respond mostly to the emergency medical needs of their constituency as they also protect life and property. The additional ARFF qualifications mean more education, training, equipment, and especially scrutiny. Among others, this translates into a higher ratio of training officers to firefighters than is typically average for the industry.

Airports generally, including their fire service response capabilities are governed by Transport Canada, predominantly through the Aeronautical Act and related Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARS). Each year, Transport Canada conducts an audit of the GTAA fire service to assure compliance. The GTAA also endeavors toward compliance with additional National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) ARFF standards. Additionally, it cooperates with Transport Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) in the investigation of aircraft related incidents.

The primary goal of the GTAA Fire Service is to maintain the airfield to be able to service the numbers and types of aircraft that regularly use it. Pearson is divided into two "Category 9" airports, the highest airport designation in Canada. Consequently, there are two "Category 9" fire stations, one at the north side, and one at the south side of the airport.

One of the first tasks for Chief Figliola was to identify the position of his department within the context of the GTAA business model and surrounding fire service environment. As I listened to Chief Figliola speak, I thought this sounded much like the challenge of every Fire Chief about to embark on a strategic plan for his department. I was surprised to be taken a bit "out of the box"

Take General Electric, the Chief explained to me; at first they appear as a manufacturing company, producing goods for retail as well as industry consumption - their name prominently displayed on the products we use every day. When GE is analyzed from a financial perspective, however, one discovers that a significant portion of revenue comes from money lending, so it has to be asked whether GE is a manufacturing company, or a bank.

He's absolutely right. In the recent book Fast Food Nations, the author challenges the reader to think of McDonald's, the fast food chain giant, more in terms of the revenue it receives from real estate leasing to its franchisees.

Chief Figliola also wanted to know how the GTAA fire service "fit" into the surrounding community. At one time, the adjoining City of Mississauga provided all emergency response services except for fires. Anticipating the gradual trend toward independence, the GTAA increased its staffing between 1996 and 2000 and on April 1, 2005 it took over responsibility for all emergency response types. Since the GTAA fire service is not bound by the Ontario Fire Protection and Prevention Act (FPPA), the new independence required a separately negotiated special mutual air emergency response agreement with Toronto Fire Services. AT the time of writing, GTAA was also in negotiations for similar agreement with Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services.

Mutual aid is not a foreign concept for the GTAA, or other ARFF departments. The nearby community of Burlington, Ontario has received assistance from the GTAA, and the specialized ARFF apparatus at Trenton (ON) Air Force Base assisted nearby Cobourg, Ontario during the spectacular Horizon Plastics fire in 2005. Since they are not governed by the FPPA, the GTAA facilities compliance of the National Fire Code through its Fire Prevention division.

The EMS Dilemma

Like most structural fire services, the GTAA responds to more medical emergencies than any other type. Several years ago, firefighters noticed an increase in the seriousness of the medical responses they were attending together with a declining capability to stabilize patients. Accordingly, in 2003, the department embarked on a plan to introduce symptom relief "best" practices. Under the supervision of a medical doctor who had to certify the delegated medical acts, firefighters began an intense three moth training program on patient assessment, including determining blood pressure, and proper use of stethoscopes. The value of the program became quickly evident as firefighters began responding with new protocols. As part of the ongoing certification process, firefighters receive regular training, weekly protocols, and annual recertification.

Symptom relief actually involves about five or so drugs that patients could self administer anyway, but in terms of operational effectiveness, it now means that about 95% of all medical responses by the GTAA fire service can be handled using symptom relief protocols. About 3% still require advanced care EMS.

Airport Security

Airports have become the focal points of security in our world following the events of September 11, 2001, and so the GTAA at Pearson has been identified as a potential CBRN high-risk. Accordingly, GTAA firefighters have all been trained to the NFPA 472 Operations level, 32 of them to the Technician level. The main strategic partner in CBRN is the Special Operations Team from the Department of Defence (DND), which includes responses from CFB Trenton complete with an advance team arriving by helicopter. Each year, the Special Ops team and the GTAA fire service team practice a real time training event at Pearson.

In the event of larger incidents, the GTAA incident management system provides for command firstly through the Emergency Operations Centre in the GTAA administration building. The EOC is designed to quickly become a field command hub. In the event that it's required , a unified command structure can also be maintained through an Alternate Emergency Support Centre. Typically, the Fire Chief would staff the EOC, while the Deputy Chief would staff the AESC.

The Future

As a lifelong learner himself, and because specialized ARFF capabilities are an additional component of their services, Chief Figliola believes strongly in developing training-related initiatives. That's why the GTAA is beginning construction on a state-of-the-art fire training facility on the Pearson grounds. Once the facility is operational, Chief Figliola hopes it will be able to function as a satellite campus for university and college level academic courses with the eventual goal of becoming a successful non-aeronautical revenue stream. As well, a $2.2 billion airport expansion is underway to be able to accommodate a projected 50 million passengers per year by 2010.

Post Script:

When I contacted author Dan Haden for permission to reprint his article, he asked me to include the following which pays respect to the outstanding work of the GTAA fire service partners

"The airport is now and has always been located in one way or another within the city of Mississauga. City of Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services is extremely proud of the outstanding service it provides to the travelling public and tenants of L.B. Pearson Airport, and continues to be the municipal fire department providing primary fire and emergency support to the GTAA. Until the GTAA recently assumed first response capability for structural fire fighting, hazmat, and rescue services, Mississauga Fire provided all emergency response services except for Aircraft Fire and Rescue.

It is noteworthy that Mississauga provided a two-alarm response and some 40 fire fighters to the Air France crash on August 2, 2005. The operation was further supported by our Peel Mutual Aid partners, the City of Brampton and Town of Caledon, who sent 4 water tankers (3 from Caledon) to provide a vital water shuttle to the GTAA ARFF "Crash" trucks.