Emergency Services Impacts
Despite planned higher density, the 2014/2015 budget cut four frontline Toronto Fire Services (TFS) trucks; two of these were in Scarborough (Pumper 213, Aerial 215). As of March 2024, only one of these cuts to service was reversed.
Over the last three years, TFS - East Command which serves Scarborough Centre was the second busiest Command in the City of Toronto.[1] [2]
At present, Scarborough’s (TFS - East Command) that serves Lawrence & McCowan does not currently have a “High Rise” Unit (a specialized rescue truck that contains equipment for high-rise incidents), the only such dedicated units are in North York (Stn. 114, Yonge/Finch) and Downtown (Stn. 332, Entertainment District).
Additionally, based Downtown (Stn. 333 - St. Lawrence Market), the TFS’ new Bronto F230RPX Skylift “TOWER 1”, the tallest aerial ladder truck in the TFS fleet is only capable of extending 70m/230ft or 20-22 stories. Toronto’s next tallest aerial apparatus can only reach 11 storeys.[3] [4]
In 2022, TFS emergency call volumes increased by 26.2% as compared to 2021, largely as a result of TFS being dispatched to additional emergency medical incidents, in support of Toronto Paramedic Services.[5]
In 2007, Toronto City Council made a commitment to meet the National Fire Protection Association's Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations Standard (NFPA 1710), an international minimum response standard for fire protection.[6]
Between 2020-2022, Scarborough Centre has consistently seen an increase in initial fire response times exceeding the National Fire Protection Association NFPA Performance Benchmark for Total Response Time of 6:24 minutes. Scarborough Centre only achieved this benchmark at the following rates:
Between 2020-2022, despite improvements, Scarborough Centre was still behind in “secondary” fire response times exceeding the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 10:24 min response performance benchmark. Scarborough Centre only achieved this benchmark at the following rates:
o 2020 - 83% (11:14 min response avg.)
o 2021 - 77% (11:12 min response avg.)
o 2022 - 75% (10:38 min response avg.)[8]
A recent, single story 2-alarm commercial blaze on August 31, 2022 at Lawrence and McCowan (617 McCowan Rd.) directly south of the TOC site required crews and “first-in” (evac.) and secondary response (fire attack) crews from two primary stations (231 and 232) and support crews from 4 local stations (221, 222, 223, 232) and their response trucks.
Scarborough Centre and Bendale’s (McCowan & Lawrence) primary and secondary response stations/trucks are among the busiest in Scarborough:
Station 231: Is due to have an increased stress load with the proposed high-rise developments planned near Scarborough Town Centre, Ellesmere & McCowan (Lawson Redevelopment), the legacy/existing high-rise developments on Markham Road, “ME” Markham & Ellesmere Development), single dwelling homes, commercial, medical, vehicle crashes on Hwy. 401, etc.
Station 232: Is also due to be stressed with the proposed high-rise developments planned near Scarborough Town Centre, the legacy/existing high-rise developments on Midland Ave., TTC Kennedy Stn.), single-dwelling homes, commercial (Progress Ave, etc.), medical and vehicle crashes.
Station 221: The next closest support station, in 2021 and 2022 (the last year for which data was available) consecutively had the busiest Pumper truck in all of Scarborough, responding to over +3,040 calls.[9]
Given the density, a serious fire (+2 alarm) at the proposed development site could see the four closest stations (231, 232, 221, 222, 223) spread thin. When seconds count, other emergency calls could see available trucks with response times between +7-20 mins responding to the area from the periphery and as far away as station(s):
243 (McCowan/Sheppard)
235 (Bermondsey [Victoria Park/Eglinton])
244 (Birchmount/Sheppard)
245 (Birchmount/Ellesmere)
225 (Birchmount/Kingston Rd.)
213 (Malvern)
Based on the 2024 TFS Budget Submissions, TFS continues to… “expect future challenges in maintaining response time performance standards due to city growth (including vertical growth) and densification resulting in increased service demand and increased travel times.” [10]
2024 TFS Budget Submissions also outlines that TFS is still projected to fall behind the NFPA benchmark well into 2026 (the last year for which data is available.[11]
The Toronto Fire Service Level Review report, adopted by City Council in October 2021, outlined a number of areas across Toronto, where TFS service level performance targets were not being achieved.[12]
The same 2021 report outlined that … “effectively fighting fires in high-rise buildings requires additional resources on scene compared to a fire in a single-family residence.[13] Additionally, high angle rescues such as those conducted on cranes or high-rise buildings are both demanding and complex, requiring considerable resources. Maintaining appropriate emergency response times in an increasingly vertical city is a significant challenge for TFS.” [14]
High-rise buildings represented 43.1% of all residential structure fires TFS responded to in 2020, and more than half (55.6%) of the City's fire fatalities. [15]
As of 2024, the TFS anticipates that these challenges outlined in the Toronto Fire Service Level Review report will continue to increase, driven by “…increasing population growth, vertical density, incident volumes, development of the City's transit/subway network, and complexity of incidents requiring additional staffing and resources.” [16]
Similarly, Toronto EMS’s response times only grew. Between 2020 – 2024, average EMS response times grew from 12 minutes[17] to +14 minutes.[18] In fact, emergency call demand has only grown between 3% to 5% per year over the past 10 years largely due to an aging, growing and increasingly vulnerable population.[19] (In many cases, based on availability of resources these numbers were significantly higher).
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Sources:
[1] TPFFA - Toronto Professional Firefighters Association. “Unit Response Summary.” Fire Watch, vol. 16, no. 1, 2022, p. 16. https://issuu.com/local3888/docs/fire_watch_volume_16_issue_1
[2] TPFFA - Toronto Professional Firefighters Association. “Unit Response Summary.” Fire Watch, vol. 15, no. 2, 2021, p. 23. https://issuu.com/local3888/docs/fire_watch_volume_15_issue_2_final_
[3] 2022 - Toronto Fire Services Unveil North America’s Tallest Firefighting Apparatus https://www.toronto.ca/news/mayor-tory-and-toronto-fire-services-chief-matthew-pegg-unveil-north-americas-tallest-firefighting-apparatus/
[4] Bronto Skylift F230RPX Data Sheet - https://brontoskylift.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/BrontoSkylift_F230RPX_datasheet_letter.pdf
[5] 2022 – Toronto Fire Services Annual Report - https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/8d66-TFSAnnualReport-Web-AODA-5-RS1.pdf
[6] 2007 - Toronto Fire Services Master Fire Plan
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/cd/bgrd/backgroundfile-3996.pdf
[7] 2022 – Toronto Fire Services Annual Report - https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/8d66-TFSAnnualReport-Web-AODA-5-RS1.pdf
[8] Ibid.
[9] TPFFA - Toronto Professional Firefighters Association. “Unit Response Summary.” Fire Watch, vol. 16, no. 1, 2022, p. 18. https://issuu.com/local3888/docs/fire_watch_volume_16_issue_1
[10] 2024 - Toronto Fire Services Capital and Operating Budget Notes - https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/bu/bgrd/backgroundfile-241810.pdf
[11] Ibid.
[12] 2021 - Toronto Fire Services: Operational Service Delivery Model https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ec/bgrd/backgroundfile-170572.pdf
[13] J.D. Averill, L. Moore-Merrell, R.T. Ranellone Jr, C. Weinschenk, N. Taylor, R. Goldstein, R. Santos, D. Wissoker, K.A. Notarianni. Report on High-Rise Fireground field experiments, NIST Technical Note 1797. https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/TechnicalNotes/NIST.TN.1797.pdf
[14] 2021 - Toronto Fire Services: Operational Service Delivery Model https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ec/bgrd/backgroundfile-170572.pdf
[15] Ibid.
[16] 2024 - Toronto Fire Services Capital and Operating Budget Notes - https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/bu/bgrd/backgroundfile-241810.pdf
[17] 2020 – Toronto Paramedic Services Annual Report – Performance p. 14 https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/9765-Annual-Report-2020-web-final-compressed.pdf
[18] 2024 Capital and Operating Budget Notes - Toronto Paramedic Services - https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/bu/bgrd/backgroundfile-242287.pdf
[19] Ibid.