City of Morgan Hill Public Safety Master Plan

equipped with residential fire sprinklers. CPSM recognizes the application of the automatic fire sprinklers in both the City and District as a Best Practice .

CAL FIRE plays a significant role in fire prevention efforts, mainly through public fire safety education and during Fire Prevention Week each October. Members of the fire department routinely respond throughout the year to requests from schools, civic groups, and the community to see the department’s fire apparatus. Department members review basic fire safety with the public such as exit drills in the home; stop, drop and roll; and changing smoke/carbon monoxide detector batteries in the spring and fall. These public fire safety efforts are a Best Practice . The city Fire Marshal has limited staffing to perform the public fire safety education function, but makes a significant commitment to participate in public education events, special events and community outreach efforts. The City of Morgan Hill has enacted a Weed Abatement Ordinance that requires removal of hazardous weeds and brush in an effort to prevent or mitigate the spread of wild fires. The Fire Department is charged with the enforcement of this ordinance and this responsibility has been delegated to the Fire Marshall’s Office. The Fire Marshall has anticipated that this added requirement will add in excess of 600 hours of additional workload to oversee this process in the City. Currently this capacity does not exist and additional staffing will be required to fulfill this responsibility. Weed abatement in the District is provided through the County’s Department of Agriculture. The weed abatement program applicable in the District is voluntary, though mitigation efforts may be required if the situation is deemed to be a fire hazard. The fire prevention efforts in the District and the City are not unified. Different aspects of this effort are supervised and coordinated through the different levels of government. Though CAL FIRE is under contract to provide fire prevention services in both areas, there are differences in the management of these efforts because of the processing and enforcement differences between the City and County. The situation is compounded because of the involvement of the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District, which has been charged with much of the fire prevention oversight, yet its jurisdictions does not include SSCCFD. Though the agencies attempt to work cooperatively in the administration of fire prevention efforts, there are gaps and differences in these efforts. Recommendation: Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County should consider consolidating their fire prevention efforts (permitting, plans review, inspections and code enforcement) under CAL FIRE in the delivery of fire prevention services. Education and training programs create the character of a fire service organization. Agencies that place a real emphasis on their training have a tendency to be more proficient in carrying out day-to-day duties. The prioritization of training also fosters professionalism and teamwork and instills pride in the organization. An effective fire department training program must cover all of the essential elements in the department’s core missions and responsibilities. The program must include an appropriate combination of technical/classroom training and manipulative or hands- on/practical evolutions. Most of the training, but particularly the practical hands-on training evolutions, should be developed based upon the department’s own operating procedures. It is also important that all training evolutions are reflective of those accepted practices and industry standards. EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS

CAL FIRE has an excellent training program and there is a dedicated effort focused on a wide array of training activities. The training functions of CAL FIRE are primarily handled by three

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