York Professors Partner with Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service

Excal.on.ca
Sept. 13, 2019
Tyler McKay

In 2017, York Professors Adriano O. Solis and Ali Asgary from the School of Administrative Studies, received research grants through the Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid-response Simulation (ADERSIM) at York.

According to Professor Asgary: “The grants in this case were part of the National Fire Information Database (NFID) that is a national fire data pilot project launched by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.”

Since the Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) is one of the ADERSIM members, the York team was able to form a partnership to develop a project. The NFID data was not complete nor detailed enough, according to Professor Asgary.

This is the beginning of what would become the award-winning project: “Igniting Insight: Using GIS and Analytics in the Fire Service.”

According to the VFRS, the project was designed “to model and simulate responses to emergency incidents.”

Two different models were used in the simulation framework. The first was an incident generation engine which simulated the arrival of emergencies. The second was a response simulation model which showed how VFRS would respond to the emergency.

“This resulted in an in-depth analysis of response times and other key performance indicators which facilitated evidence-based decision-making for fire station location placement, the prioritization of new road networks, and allocation of resources.”

When asked about the partnership with York professors, Fire Chief Deryn Rizzi said: “It is our responsibility to ensure that Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service operates as efficiently and effectively as possible, while maintaining what is most important--the safety of citizens and firefighters. This project was initiated to develop the tools necessary to shape future decision-making and direction.”

Rizzi received her Masters in disaster and emergency management from York, and was a former student of Professor Asgary. She even taught in the disaster and emergency management program as a sessional instructor.

As a part of this project VFRS also partnered with York Region, the University of Calabria, and the University of Genoa.

Rizzi praised the result of the project stating that, “the success of this project lies in the ability for VFRS to use data to identify the impact of any resource allocation or infrastructure change on performance and response time. This will help ensure the fire service is strong, resilient and well-positioned for the future.”

“The modelling has allowed the VFRS to determine optimal unit availability and ideal station and truck placement to have a positive impact on response time, which can ultimately reduce property damage and save lives.”

As a result of this work, Rizzi was presented with the Bronze Management Innovation Award at the 2019 Institute of Public Administration of Canada’s conference in Winnipeg this past summer.

“The entire team deserves kudos for their professionalism and innovation in the pursuit of better outcomes. We are thankful for their efforts and look forward to their continued participation in future endeavours,” Rizzi said.