BOCA FIRE RESCUE NET - City of Boca Raton

Page 5
BOCA FIRE RESCUE
Planning
By:
Michael Gergora
Assistant Chief
Save the
Date
April 4 & 5,
My office is open and ready for business!
I have been working on several projects
over the past month and I have been
receiving quite an education in the
process. Let me share with you some
of the issues I am currently working on
for the department.
Accreditation: I have been given the
mission of preparing our department for
an evaluation through the Center for
Public Safety Excellence (CPSE). The
CPSE utilizes the Commission on Fire
Accreditation International (CFAI) to
conduct the evaluation of fire departments.
Before we go any further, let’s
explain just what Accreditation is. Accreditation
is not just an inspection and
then you get a “merit badge”, it’s about
achieving organizational and professional
excellence. This is done through
a self-assessment model, CFAI review,
and for our organization to be committed
to an effort of continuous quality
improvement and enhancement of the
delivery of service to our community
and each other. Wow! That’s quite a
mouth full. I am sure that you can
imagine that this task is not something
that is easily achieved. This will require
a commitment from all of us over
the next year or two to get prepared for
our review. I am eager to get to work
on this project and begin the enhancement
process. I will be attending an
Accreditation Managers Workshop on
March 11 th and 12 th in preparation for
the work ahead. I believe we can
achieve this goal and grow together!
Mutual Assistance and Automatic Aid
Agreements: The more common term
is Mutual Aid agreements. Our current
Mutual Aid agreements with Boynton
Beach Fire Rescue, Delray Beach Fire
Rescue, Deerfield Beach Fire Rescue,
and Palm Beach Fire Rescue County
will expire on September 30, 2009. State
law only allows the agreements to have
a duration of seven (7) years. We are
proposing to add some language to augment
the agreements.
Florida Atlantic University (FAU):
The City and FAU have been negotiating
over their Comprehensive Development
Plan. Fire Rescue has been included
in the process and we have
shared our anticipated impacts on our
ability to provide service to the proposed
new development. This includes
a new Football Stadium and additional
student housing. There are some exciting
opportunities we are working on for
the department! I’ll keep you posted as
they develop further.
Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
Relocating: The EOC is relocating
temporarily to 6500 Congress Avenue.
Guess Where? You’re right! Right here
on the second floor. We have been busy
planning and coordinating for the move
and we welcome the City Staff to our
home. So the next time you are in the
building, you might run into some unfamiliar
faces working toward getting
things done before June 1 st .
Please stop by my office when you are
in the building. Until Then - Stay Safe
and Professional!
Boca Burn Tournament
By: Brett Lea
Battalion Chief
The Boca Burn Tournament will be
held on April 4 & 5 (Saturday & Sunday)
to benefit the South Florida Children's
Burn Foundation. We expect
to have 25 fire department teams from
the South Florida area competing in one
of the best run charity softball tournaments
in the country. To make it another
successful event, we will need
numerous volunteers throughout the
weekend, but especially on Saturday,
as we will be combining our Annual
Fire Department Family Picnic with
the traditional complimentary Players
Picnic hosted by the Benevolent.
For those that can volunteer a few hours
or the whole weekend, please contact
Brett Lea at bclea@bellsouth.net or
756-6854. Thank you.
Emily Swedenborg brought her daddy,
Gary, in for a visit.