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OVERVIEW WINDSOR FIRE & RESCUE SERVICES – APPARATUS DIVISION
The Windsor Fire & Rescue Services Apparatus Division has been at its present location since 1982. Prior to that, it was located at Richmond & Walker where the new #2 Fire Hall now stands.
The Division employs seven personnel. They are:
- Director of Apparatus – Roger Zanettin
- Five Emergency Vehicle Technicians:
-
Gerry DeLaronde
-
Brent Paisley
- Roger Anderson
- Apparatus Clerk – Linda Bailey
- The Apparatus Division is responsible for the maintenance and repairs of all vehicles within the Fire Department, as well as approximately 90% of the equipment carried on them. These duties must be performed in strict compliance with numerous standards and regulations, including:
- Responsibilities of the Division include, but are not limited to:
- Annual pump certification
- Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) annual certification
- Annual Ministry of Transportation safety certification
- Annual ground ladder certification
- New vehicle acceptance testing
- Annual aerial inspection
- 5-year non-destructive testing of all aerial devices and aerial platforms
- Maintenance and air sample testing (3X year) of two Breathing Air compressors within the Fire Department, plus service to Tecumseh Fire B/A compressor.
- Respiratory protection program, including fit testing
- Repairs to Akron & TFT nozzles
- Capabilities and expertise to manufacture, modify and weld on the premises.
- Hose repair and testing of all Windsor Fire & Rescue Services hose inventory. The Windsor Fire & Rescue Services has approximately 49 vehicles in its fleet – 21 large vehicles and 28 support fleet (small fleet).
- MTO commercial inspections
The Apparatus Division has developed standard work orders for each of the various vehicles. Average time allotment ranges from 2.50 hours per small fleet vehicle to 70-80 hours for an annual inspection on a large Aerial platform vehicle with pump.
In 1995, our Administration allowed the Division to offer its services to the surrounding municipal fire departments. We received a good response and now service six out of seven of the surrounding municipalities. They include:
- Amherstburg Fire Department
- LaSalle Fire Department
- Tecumseh Fire Department
- Lakeshore Fire Department
- Essex Fire Department
- Kingsville Fire Department
And,
- Windsor Airport with its two crash vehicles.
We have also done warranty and repair work for some fire truck dealers.
With the addition of county vehicles, we now service:
- Approximately 100 vehicles per year
- Three high pressure breathing air compressors for maintenance and air testing.
We also provide:
- Certification of different types of breathing apparatus:
- Draeger air paks – Windsor Fire & Rescue Services
- Interspiro air paks – Tecumseh Fire Department
- MSA air paks – Kingsville, Essex, & LaSalle Fire Departments
- 24-hr. service to both the city and county
- Snow removal for Apparatus Division and also seven city fire stations (when requested)
- Have worked with ULC to provide pump test facilities.
The above services do not include emergency repairs for both city and county apparatus and equipment, which account for approximately 40% of our workload.
We also utilize the services of other departments within the city (e.g.):
- Public Works – does our emission testing on our small fleet
- Transit Windsor
- air conditioning repairs
- emission testing of our large fleet
- body and paint repairs
- Parks Department
- snow plowing of our stations
We also provide service to:
- Police air packs
- Windsor Jail air packs
- Windsor Utilities air packs
- Transit Windsor large air tanks (air refill)
- Hose repairs for flushers for Public Works.
The Division has members on:
- Joint Health & Safety Committee
- Equipment Review Committee
We also provide consultation service to the surrounding fire departments when purchasing new vehicles for firefighting.
Future plans to increase efficiency in the Division include:
- Computer program to handle our different work orders, inventory control, maintenance scheduling, etc.
This Division has one of the finest pump test facilities in the province.
This is but a brief overview of the Apparatus Division. I hope that it has provided a better insight into what the Division does, as an integral part of the Fire Department.
Submitted by Roger Zanettin,
Director of Apparatus
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