About the department

The residents of the Town of Gravenhurst are protected by one of the finest fire departments in the Province of Ontario. The department is a leader in firefighting techniques and training. In addition the fire department has undertaken several initiatives that have been adopted elsewhere.

The Gravenhurst Fire Department serves 10,899 year-round and up to 40,000 seasonal residents covering 224 square miles of both rural and urban properties. The department operates from three stations with 45 volunteer members. Station One, the headquarters station, is located at 190 Harvie Street in downtown Gravenhurst. Station Two, at 1030 Kilworthy Road  is at the intersection of Hwy. 11 and Kilworthy Road, seven miles to the south. Station Three is 12 miles to the east, at 1622 Barkway Road between Barkway and Housey’s Rapids. The boundaries of this response area are from the Severn River to the south, Muskoka Road Four overpass to the north to Mackenzie Road to the west and the far side of Barkway in the east

The department responds to an average 300-325 emergency calls each year. These calls include fires of all sizes, various types of rescues, car accidents, weather related emergencies and mutual aid to other fire departments that have reciprocal mutual aid agreements with Gravenhurst.

Current apparatus (trucks) assigned to the department includes five pumpers, two tankers, one brushfire/utility truck and a squad van. All apparatus are identified as a "Unit" with an individual number. Units One, Two, Three, Four and Seven are pumpers. Units Five and Eight are tankers. Unit Nine is a pickup truck equipped for bush fires and Unit Six is the squad.

The pumpers are outfitted with hose, ladders and other firefighting equipment for general firefighting purposes. In addition to these duties, Unit Three is outfitted for rescue duties with the heavy hydraulic equipment, "Jaws of Life" on board. In season it also carries the equipment for Ice Water Rescue.

Only four square miles out of our 224 square mile territory is served by hydrants, so the tankers, Units Five and Eight, carry 1,500 gallons of water each to any fire outside of the hydrant area. They also carry extra equipment which may be needed at the scene. Firefighter’s turnout coats and breathing apparatus are carried aboard the pumpers in Station Two and Three and aboard Unit Six at Station One. Unit Six also doubles as a command vehicle if required and is equipped with mobile dispatching equipment should the need arise.

Unit Nine is a 4x4 pickup truck equipped for forest/brush firefighting. For a description of our all our vehicles, with pictures see "Emergency Response."

The deployment of our trucks has six Units operating from Station One, two from Station Two and one from Station Three. Units Three, Five, Six, Seven and Eight and Nine are housed at Station One. Units One and Four are at Station Two, and Unit Two is at Station Three. For operational reasons, sometimes the apparatus will move into different halls.

Our firefighters receive state of the art protective equipment and expert training in all aspects of emergency operations. Training sessions are one evening per week for regular training. In addition firefighters receive specialized training, such as CPR, First Aid, Ice Rescue and Auto Extrication in special sessions throughout the year. Station One trains on Wednesday evenings, Station Two on Tuesday evenings and Station Three on Monday evenings. All regular sessions begin at 19:00 and usually last two hours. All firefighters are trained to provincial standards using the Ontario Fire Marshall’s curriculum. Firefighters are also encouraged to expand their training with courses at the Ontario Fire College.

Composition

Department personnel comprise a Fire Chief, Deputy Chief, Platoon Chief, eight Captains and 43 fire-fighters. The department is divided into six companies. Each company is under the direction of a captain. The captains are the firefighter’s immediate supervisor. They work with their companies to carry out the tasks which are assigned to them as a group.

In addition to their roles as company officers, the Captains are also each responsible for a specific administrative function within the department. These portfolios include; Administration Officer, Public Education Officer, Mechanical Officer, Specialized Teams/Safety Officer and Station Officers. 

The Platoon Chief is responsible for the activities of the Fire Prevention Division, including inspections and public education. The Training Officer implements the specific courses, prepares the instructors and provides all the necessary equipment and documentation for the courses.

The Chief and Deputy Chief are the administrative arm of the department. They handle such areas as discipline, budget and council. Their main and most important role is that of policy maker, and operations chief. All activities of the department, both on the fireground and in the halls is under their immediate control and supervision.

The Command System

In emergency operations, the Gravenhurst Fire Department follows an internationally recognized organizational structure. This method is known as the Incident Management System (IMS) or Fire Command System. The basis for the system is that for any incident there is  only one person in charge, and that person shall be called "Command". All the strategic decisions made about an incident are made by Command. Command uses the information he receives from all sources in determining the overall plan and course of action. All actions undertaken by the firefighters are approved and coordinated by Command. This eliminates "freelancing" on the fireground and increases safety. All communications at the scene, whether they be updates or requests for resources, all go through Command.

Command follows a set of predetermined benchmarks in checking the progress at an incident. These benchmarks determine the focus of the operation at any given point in time. In the example of a house fire, Command’s priorities rest with life and then property. His tactical priorities are rescue, fire control and property conservation. Each priority has to be dealt with in order. At the end of each priority is a benchmark that serves to identify when one aspect of the situation has been resolved. In rescue the benchmark is ALL CLEAR which tells us a primary search of the building has been completed and no people are still inside. UNDER CONTROL is the benchmark for fire control and tells everybody that the fire can be put out with the equipment, manpower and resources that are on the scene. LOSS STOPPED is announced when any further damage to the building or its contents has ended. At this point actions turn to cleanup and investigation.

To perform the actual job of firefighting, or doing the work at the scene, Command delegates specific jobs and goals to the captains. This is called sectoring. Sectors can be made up of geographic areas (i.e. front of the building, back of the building, upstairs, basement) or they can be tasks (i.e. fire attack, rescue, salvage etc.) The Gravenhurst Fire Department generally sectors by task.

In charge of a sector is a captain who directs the members of his company (firefighters) in the performance of the job or goal that has been set out by Command. When assigned a task, the captain drops his usual call sign, and takes the call sign of the task he has been given. For example, Delta arrives on the scene and is ordered by Command to take his company inside to search for people still inside and remove them if they can. Delta drops the call sign "Delta" and becomes "Rescue". He will keep this call sign for the duration of the incident or until his company is re-assigned.

For the dispatcher, IMS makes life much easier. All communications from the scene go through Command, so the dispatcher only talks to one person, not twenty. Command talks to dispatch and to four or five captains who are looking after sectors. The captains only talk to Command and to the four or five firefighters who are members of his company. Confusion is minimized and increased productivity and safety are the benefits. 

Visit the Roster for an up-to-date list of our members, or if you would like to apply to join our organization check out the application page.

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Last modified: January 01, 2008