Delcambre agrees to approve two Emergency plans, fire ordinance

DELCAMBRE — The Town of Delcambre approved Emergency Management hazard Mitigation Plan for Iberia Parish and Vermilion Parish.
The twin parish town had the benefit last night to decide to adopt two Emergency Mitigation plans that will only benefit them in the long run if the town were to suffer a major natural disaster. Prescott Marshall from Iberia Parish and Homer Stelly from Vermilion Parish presented the board with the smart decision to include both plans, in which the board agreed to do.
In order for any community or parish to be eligible for hazard mitigation funding, FEMA requires that Iberia Parish provides a hazard mitigation plan and contract in place. Marshall told the board that he and Stelly both recommended to adopt both. “It can only help to adopt both, that way if Delcambre is in a disaster, the town would be eligible for mitigation funding, possibly from both parishes,” Marshall said.
Vermilion had a higher percentage for reimbursement for hurricane Delta than Iberia Parish did, who only had 75%. “It’s conceivable that if Iberia Parish gets hit harder during a storm than Vermilion, Iberia would be the parish with a great opportunity based on the parish wide implications to receive funding,” said Marshall, “by adopting both, you can basically jump on any train that will get you the best payoff after a disaster.”
This plan does not require anything from the town of Delcambre, aside from approving the motion to adopt, instead, it allows the town to have a wider range of help when it comes down to decreasing hazards. An example of that would be if the town wanted to move their fire station, they could receive help to do so pending approval.
Overall it is a wise decision since it requires nothing more than a signature. Mayor Blakely and the board all agreed.
The board also introduced an ordinance for the Fire Department to be allowed to investigate their own fire until it is out of range and the Fire Marshall is needed. Delcambre Fire Chief Brock Benoit said that there was never an ordinance stating that the fire department can investigate their own incidents. “With the rating that the Fire Department has this year, allowing the department to investigate these incidents will only help the Department achieve a higher rating, which is important for many reasons, but also a personal goal for me,” Benoit said.
Having an ordinance can allow even a half of a point to achieve a better rating. As fire officers, being able to determine what the fire was caused by, Benoit and his Assistant Chief has the credentials to do so, and if ever they need further assistance, for example a suspected arson fire, then the Fire Marshal will be contacted to complete the investigation.
“Anything that we cannot be sure of, we already contact the Fire Marshal anyway, so having the ordinance in place will basically just help us meet this criteria for a better rating,” Benoit said.
Having a rating of 7 several years ago, Benoit is now at a class 4 rating. A lower rating will also allow for insurance premiums to decrease. “We are wanting to cover every item that came up on that rating list as possible and it is our goal to get at least a class 3 rating or below,” he said, “The ratings are based on how much your fire department could protect your town.”
ISO stands for the Insurance Services Office. ISO collects information on municipal fire departments and then assigns them with a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 generally represents superior fire protection services, while Class 10 represents a service level that doesn’t meet ISO’s minimum fire protection criteria.
Fire departments are evaluated in about 75 different areas that fall into four general categories, weighted accordingly; fire department (40%), water supply (35%), fire safety control (16%) and emergency communications (9%). Fire department includes things such as the number of stations, number, type and age of apparatus, staffing levels, training, hose and equipment, vehicle maintenance, etc.
Water supply evaluates water flow, hydrant locations and condition, operation and maintenance of the water systems, and since the water meter project, the department was able to earn a point or two since the installation of those meters and updating of the water system.
Fire safety control encompasses prevention programs such as code enforcement, plan review, business inspections and public education programs. The final category, emergency communications, evaluates the department’s dispatchers and dispatch center operations. Every 5 years or so, the departments are re-evaluated.
The board agreed to adopt the fire ordinance.