The prime concern of fire response is the life safety of emergency responders and facility occupants. Local plans should be developed to provide emergency responders with additional resources and personnel during major emergencies. Under normal circumstances, emergency operations should commence within 10 minutes of receiving an alarm to a structural fire. Emergency operations are all functions performed at the scene including rescue, fire suppression, emergency medical care and special operations. A periodic fire risk assessment must be conducted which studies the features of the infrastructure, including the occupancies, to determine potential fire severity and fire response necessary to accomplish rescue, control, extinguishment and salvage.
Some flexibility is permitted in the method of meeting fire response requirements.
Following this fire risk assessment, the Commander may decide to employ alternate delivery solutions. In locations where minimum requirements for structural fire response are deemed to be unachievable by the unit or base commanding officer, a special risk assessment shall be carried out by a CFFM designated authority to identify options that will mitigate the risk of death, injury, loss or damage by fire. Compliance with the requirements is essential in the event of litigation against the DND, the CF, and the Commander. The following table identifies the primary responsibilities for the provision of DND and CF structural fire response services.