REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BILLY ALCORN, Fire Chief
Fire Department
SUBJECT
Title
***BILL-16 (Intro’d June 13, 2024) (For Adoption) to Amend a portion of Article 5 of Chapter 10 of the Fresno Municipal Code relating to Fire and Life Safety Regulations. (Subject to Mayor’s Veto).
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council adopt a Bill amending a portion of Article 5 of Chapter 10 to the Fresno Municipal Code relating to Fire and Life Safety Regulations.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Every three years, the California Building Standards Code (CBSC) is reviewed (and modified where applicable) then adopted by the California Building Standards Commission. In 2021, the Commission voted to adopt the 2022 edition of the CBSC which includes the 2022 edition of the California Fire Code. The CBSC went into effect January 1, 2023. The City of Fresno Municipal Code contains these standards, which are adopted or modified as necessary to ensure the safety of our community and firefighters. On occasion, the CBSC makes intervening code cycle changes, which necessitate amendments at the local level. Staff is introducing the attached Resolution and Ordinance to be considered for adoption based on intervening code cycle changes made by CBSC.
BACKGROUND
The 2022 CBSC incorporates the 2021 edition of the International Fire Code, as amended with necessary California amendments. The 2022 CBSC became effective on January 1, 2023, and is mandated by the California Building Standards Commission for statewide adoption and enforcement. The City of Fresno has the authority to make necessary modifications to the State Code.
The intervening code cycle amendment being made to the Fresno Municipal Code with this adoption, is an item currently being regulated through policies of the Fresno Fire Department. This change is being driven by the CBSC’s adoption of a new referenced standard for emergency responder radio communications coverage (ERRC) installations which will reduce the survivability of these systems.
• Section 10-50510.4.2 deals with the adopted referenced standard for the installation of two-way emergency responder radio communication coverage systems for emergency responders. The FFD amended language introduces FFD policy as a necessary compliance step for system design. This FFD policy addresses fire, police and EMS service safety issues first and foremost, as it provides additional system survivability when our emergency responders are operating within a building. Under the extremes of firefighting, mass casualty, or other emergency conditions, the ability of emergency response personnel to transmit and receive radio transmissions is essential.
It is of the opinion of the Department that the proposed change will continue to provide the residents of Fresno, our firefighters, and other emergency responders with the highest level of protection available.
SUMMARY
Inadequate emergency responder radio communication systems have contributed to a number of emergency responder injuries and deaths, the most famous being the deaths of five firefighters in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1988. Emergency responder radio communication systems are critical to the safety of our emergency responders and are intended to be the last of the life safety systems to fail during an emergency. The passage of this amendment will help ensure that the existing level of survivability required by adopted FFD policy remains in place.
Local amendments proposed for adoption are limited to those that are essential to effectively administer code responsibilities in daily operations of the fire department and to maintain previous amendments approved by Council relating to fire and life safety. Staff recommends adoption of the standards as proposed.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
Staff has conducted a preliminary environmental evaluation of this ordinance pursuant to the requirements of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, section 15061(b)(3) and has determined with certainty that there is no possibility that the adoption of the 2022 California Fire Code amendments may have a significant adverse effect on the environment, as defined by CEQA Guidelines, section 15382.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because this item does not include an award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
The approval of these text amendments will have no fiscal impact on the City’s budget.
Attachments:
2024 CFC Environmental Notice of Exemption_redline
Ordinance