Item - 2023.EC3.2

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council receive the report (March 31, 2023) from the Fire Chief and General Manager, Toronto Fire Services for information.

This report seeks to notify City Council of the donation of end-of-life, decommissioned heavy urban search and rescue (HUSAR) equipment to the Province of Ontario. This decommissioned equipment was included as part of an emergency humanitarian effort, coordinated by the Province of Ontario on February 13, 2023 in response to the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

Each of the items donated as part of this humanitarian effort were previously decommissioned and were no longer suitable for use by Toronto Fire Services (TFS).

This donation consisted of various decommissioned heavy urban search and rescue equipment, including heavy urban search and rescue tents and heaters, which had not yet been disposed of due to delays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Province of Ontario engaged Toronto Fire Services on the evening of February 10, 2023 to seek any donations for a delivery scheduled to leave Canada 72 hours later. As a result of the challenges and restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, TFS had yet to dispose of a stockpile of decommissioned heavy urban search and rescue equipment via the normal disposition / disposal processes for these types of equipment. Accordingly, this stockpile of decommissioned heavy urban search and rescue equipment was made available for emergency donation as part of Ontario’s humanitarian donation effort.

Approval from the City Manager was obtained prior to proceeding with the donation of this decommissioned equipment.

Toronto Fire Services routinely receives requests for the donation of other expired equipment, including expired firefighting protective equipment, from various non-profit and humanitarian agencies and organizations, who operate within jurisdictions that are not subject to the equipment expiry guidelines which exist in Ontario.