common
questions
 

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OPERATION

What is the legal structure of AFRS?

• Ohio legislation permits government and private fire companies to serve a community

• Municipalities and private organizations can request our services with or without contract

• AFRS legal authority is derived from ORC 9.60 and other state/federal statutes

• AFRS and it's members maintain the same immunity as government fire agencies

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What are your response times?

• GPS/AVL CAD dispatch allows us to locate the nearest AFRS unit to your incident

• Our estimated response for air support is approximately 30 minutes

• Our estimated response for underwater operations is approximately 45 minute
  *** Our response times are NOT guaranteed as there are many factors that can impact our arrival or availability.

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What training do AFRS field operators have?

• AFRS field staff must have current: OH-Fire, FEMA, and FAA  certifications/licenses

• All AFRS pilots have night ops authorization from the FAA

• All AFRS pilots are internally trained on thermography, safety, and regulatory matters

• Emergency vehicle operations

• Underwater operations and legal requirements for submersible equipment

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What training does AFRS leadership have?​

• Training spans a wide range of homeland security disciplines: critical infrastructure protection, dams and waterways, large scale event safety, underground pipelines, bombing prevention, bio/nuclear matters

• Leadership contains a diverse group of public safety and critical infrastructure members
   

How do AFRS field operations integrate with our incident needs?

• AFRS field operators are trained in FEMA ICS and NIMS

• AFRS maintains radio contract with MARCS public safety radio system

• AFRS respects the authority having jurisdiction and IC structure

• AFRS has the ability to live stream the emergency scene to your IC team. (Firstnet data dependent)
   

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CONTRACTS / MUTUAL AID

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What about the Intrastate Mutual Aid law?

• AFRS IS NOT bound to the < 8 hour billing restrictions for mutual aid

• AFRS IS authorized to provide mutual aid by contract or verbal request

• Contracted response is preferred.  Please reach out to us today to discuss the needs of your community

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How long is a contract for?

• Ohio removed the three year contract barriers

• AFRS permits 1-5 year contracts

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Do we need a contract to use AFRS?

• ORC 9.60 does not require contracts to use AFRS or the Fire Marshal

• Contracts are preferred and recommended.  But not required for one off situations.

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Can we bill insurance (home/auto/health) for AFRS?

• AFRS is a legally authorized to provide fire/search/rescue service under statute

• The NFPA now recognizes unmanned vehicles and provides guidance for the operation of this vital fire/recue equipment

• Billing for AFRS services should be no different than billing for any other resource your team may utilize on scene
   

When are accounts payable?​

• If cost is due to AFRS - We provide 90 days net.
  
   

SCENARIOS

Can AFRS be used by any municipal resource (Police/Maintenance/Water/Sewer)

• YES! - AFRS responds with public safety grade robotic equipment

• AFRS will assist your municipality with any matters related to emergencies, national infrastructure, public welfare, or public safety

• AFRS will NOT conduct actions normally conducted by peace officers.  Examples are: non-fire investigations, traffic enforcement or other routine peace officer tasks.   We solely focus on fire protection, detection, search/rescue, and public welfare related matters

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Can AFRS be used to fly/dive our private business?

• YES! - If your situation is believed to create a risk to the public welfare or health

• YES! - If your business is directly part of our national infrastructure

NOTE:  If your needs are outside national infrastructure or fire related needs - We may consider your needs as part of public relations.

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Can AFRS review damaged bridges?

• IF EMERGECY, YES! - AFRS is primarily geared for "public safety" or "critical infrastructure" protection

• AFRS CAN stream the scene to YOUR trained professionals online

• AFRS DOES NOT maintain engineers or perform official inspections of bridges or structures

• AFRS DOES NOT perform inspections

• AFRS CAN stream vital bridge information to you existing staff and experts

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Can AFRS fly our pipelines or utility/communication infrastructure?

• YES! - AFRS CAN stream the emergency scene to YOUR trained professionals online

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What are public relation matters AFRS may help with?

• Lost pets when the animal is believed to be in danger of predators or extreme weather

• Home thermal evaluation where homeowner believes they may have insulation problems

• School presentations

• Public demonstrations and speaking engagements

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Animal Rescue - Your site talks about 30 minute radius, but it took longer for AFRS to arrive?

• We must respond to emergency calls for service first before assisting with public relations matters that are not directly related to human life safety. 

• We must adhere to all FAA rules and regulations.   Weather, visibility, and other factors can slow our ability to fly for non emergency matters VS special authorization that is granted for direct human life safety flights.

• Military operations airspace is a special use airspace and there are no flights permitted when those areas are "hot".   All drone pilots must wait until the airspace is released by the military.
   

*NOTE:  All public relation matters are at the sole discretion of the officer on duty.   AFRS does NOT charge for public relation matters.