TOPIC: SIR FILING
Under Clauses 9(2)(f) and 9(2)(g) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act,
1997, it is a duty of the Fire Marshal to keep a record of all fires reported,
to develop and maintain statistical records, and to conduct studies in respect
of fire protection services. Subsections 11(2) and 11(3) requires all assistants
to the Fire Marshal to report on fires and other matters related to fire
protection as specified by the Fire Marshal.
The information collected by the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) on fire
incidents and other fire department calls is vital for the purpose of
identifying fire safety issues that affect Ontario residents. Results of our
statistical analyses help to shape the content of fire safety programs, are used
to identify the need for fire code changes, and evaluate the success of our
programs and legislation. Incident information is also an essential input to the
new Performance Measures and Benchmarking System that will report performance
measurement data on a quarterly basis.
Information is required from all fire departments for every response made by a
fire department for all fire protection services as defined under the FPPA. Full
procedures and details on the information required are defined in the Standard
Incident and Casualty Report forms and the Occurrence Reporting Manual,
available at http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca.
Under the authority of the FPPA, I am directing all fire departments to file all
incident reports quarterly no later than the end of the month following the
quarter. Reports may be filed by mail on OFM forms or equivalent forms that have
been approved by OFM, by e-mail in a file format as defined by OFM or using the
Internet application system developed by OFM. Information on the availability of
forms, electronic file formats and Internet filing is available on the OFM Web
site in the Explanatory Guide to Standard Incident Reporting
http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca.
To ensure the accuracy of incident reporting information, the Office of the Fire
Marshal (OFM) will provide a year-end incident report to all fire departments
for verification. Fire departments are expected to review the report for
accuracy and provide the OFM with revisions by the end of the first quarter
following the year of filing. It is the responsibility of the fire department to
verify that the yearly information provided by the OFM accurately reflects the
incidence of fires and other emergency calls, even in the rare case where a fire
department has had no calls to report.
In the case where a fire department cannot meet the quarterly filing
requirement, e.g. the computer dispatch system cannot deliver the required
incident information electronically, the fire department must negotiate a
mutually acceptable filing alternative or schedule with Tony Mintoff, the
Assistant Deputy Fire Marshal of Field Fire Protections Services.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Yours truly,
Bernard A. Moyle
Fire Marshal of Ontario
August 18, 2004