City of Charlottesville, VA Fire Department
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES


Organization

Chapter: III - Fire Department Organization
Subject: Department Goals and Objectives
Code: 1-III-4
Revised: 6-6-96

4.0l  PURPOSE

      A.  To promote efficient and effective Fire Department
          operations through realistic goals and objectives.
      B.  To inform all Fire Department members of current
          departmental goals and objectives.
      C.  To establish organizational direction and measurable
          accomplishment through well defined goals and
          objectives.

4.02  POLICY

      A.  To annually review and establish goals and objectives
          for all subdivisions of the Charlottesville Fire
          Department in accordance with the department's general
          organizational goals.
      B.  To keep Fire Department members informed as to
          current goals and objectives of the Fire Department
          and its sub-units.
      C.  To actively pursue, insofar as possible, the
          accomplishment of established objectives and the
          regulation of departmental goals.

4.03  RESPONSIBILITY

      It is the responsibility of all Fire Department members to
      strive for and meet the established departmental goals and
      objectives.

4.04  GENERAL ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS

      A.  To provide cost effective, high levels of service in
          the protection of life and property from fire, panic,
          and related hazards, and also provide highly skilled
          services in the fire prevention, building inspection,
          arson investigation, and educational programs.
      B.  To work together with other departments to achieve
          proper design in planning of new developments so as
          to insure effective fire-related requirements that
          will provide reasonable protection against fire and
          panic.

4.05  ADMINISTRATION

      A.  Goals
          l.  Effectively manage departmental resources by
              establishing reasonable and effective policies
              and procedures to meet organizational goals.
          2.  Provide adequate staff and equipment to an
              alarm location with acceptable response times.
          3.  Provide public education in fire prevention,
              rescue, and other city services.
          4.  Continue to evaluate the department's standards,
              policies, and procedures.
      B.  Objectives
          l.  Total fire costs for Charlottesville (expenditures
              per $l0,000 of property value plus loss per $l,000
              of property value) shall be below that of other
              comparable Virginia municipalities.
          2.  Sick leave for the department shall not exceed
              an average usage of more than five (5) days per
              member per year.
          3.  Complete the four (4) books of the Charlottesville
              Fire Department Operations Manual and institute the
              review and revision policy of said manual (See
              l-I-3, 3.07).
          4.  Provide a system for personnel contracts for
              Fire Captains.

4.06  FIRE SUPPRESSION AND RESCUE

      A.  Goals
          l.  Provide a cost efficient fire fighting force.
          2.  Serve the public through public safety education,
              business inspections, and information referral.
      B.  Objectives
          l.  To complete ninety (90) percent of the
              emergency responses within the City in five (5)
              minutes or less.
          2.  To complete seventy (70) percent of the emergency
              responses to the urban area of Albemarle County
              in ten (l0) minutes or less.
          3.  To receive and dispatch ninety-five (95) percent
              of fire alarms within one (l) minute for City
              alarms and within two (2) minutes for county
              alarms.
          4.  Continue to evaluate ways to reduce response
              times.

4.07  TRAINING

      A.  Goals
          l.  To administer the departmental training program
              within the guidelines adopted by the Fire Chief.
          2.  To establish on-going training programs for the
              fire department.
          3.  To maintain training records of all employees as well
              City Volunteer Company members on departmental com-
              puter system and to maintain a hard copy back-up re-
              cord for each employee and Volunteer member.
          4.  To provide a structured training program for the City
              Volunteer Company
     B.  Objectives
          l.  To periodically evaluate training programs of this
              department to ensure they are current and relevant.
          2.  To evaluate basic skills level of personnel through
              company evolutions and to provide teaching oppor-
              tunities for non-instructors.
          3.  To assist departmental personnel in their individual
              career development and professional certifications,
              keeping re-certifications current and up-to-date for
              all department personnel.
          4.  To provide, through the in-house training program, at
              least 20 hours of training per month for departmental
              personnel.

4.08  FIRE PREVENTION

      A.  Goals
          l.  To provide public education as it relates to fire
              safety and protection.
          2.  To provide high level business inspections to
              maintain them in a condition meeting current
              codes and ordinances.
          3.  To improve the current level of fire protection
              related to control of hazardous occupancies,
              processes, and required fire protection systems.
          4.  To reduce the possibility for fire in all
              buildings in the community through fire prevention
              inspections.
          5.  To reduce the incident of arson and establish cause
              and origin of fire.
          6.  To ensure all construction projects meet fire/
              safety standards.
          7.  To provide quality enforcement of City Codes.
      B.  Objectives
          l.  To conduct l500 business inspections per year.
          2.  To prepare 2l6 pre-fire drawings per year.
          3.  To investigate any fires of suspicious origin or
              cause.
          4.  To transfer fire prevention records onto a
              computer system.
          5.  To prevent fires occurring within inspectable
              properties from exceeding more than ten (l0)
              percent of the total building fires occurring
              within the City.

4.09  BUILDING AND GROUNDS MAINTENANCE

      A.  Goals
          To maintain department fire stations and equipment
          in a clean, safe, and respectable condition.
      B.  Objectives
          To perform daily maintenance routine as established
          in work schedule.

4.l0  APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE

      A.  Goals
          To maintain the Charlottesville Fire Department's
          assigned vehicles and apparatus at a safe, reliable,
          and operational level.
      B.  Objectives
          l.  To limit failure of motorized apparatus to less
              than one (l) percent of company runs.
          2.  To thoroughly service each engine and truck at
              least every six (6) months.
          3.  To service the department's light vehicles at
              least every 3,000 to 5,000 miles used.

4.ll  VOLUNTEERS

      A.  Goals
          To maintain a trained group of people who can provide
          assistance to Fire Fighters on alarms in the
          Charlottesville area.
      B.  Objectives
          l.  To provide standard guidelines for protective
              clothing, behavior, and procedures.
          2.  To provide training to volunteer members and
              establish the Fire Fighter I level as the
              minimum qualification for volunteer members.
          3.  To encourage better communication, cooperation,
              and coordination of efforts between the paid
              and volunteer Fire Fighting personnel.
          4.  To establish a minimum volunteer response at
              nine (9) qualified members.

4.l2  SHIFT OBJECTIVE SCHEDULE

      A.  Each shift Fire Captain and Station One Fire Lieutenants
          shall submit completed Objective Schedules according to
          1-VII-17.
      B.  The Objective Schedule shall state all training,
          inspections, and daily activities to be completed
          during the up-coming month.

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For Help using this system, send e-mail to:

Charles Werner (werner@ci.charlottesville.va.us)