Fire Department Issues

By Shawn Brandon

The Fire Department has suffered severely under the current city government. With a growing population, over 30,000 since the last election alone, we are actually cutting staff and reducing the size of our Fire Department. We even have equipment in mothballs because there aren't enough firefighters to operate them. Our community is not as safe as it was at the last election. We need to address this problem and fix it rather than just make public statements that public safety is #1.

One of the most disturbing trends in public safety is the relationship between Fire Department staffing and emergency responses. The Fire Department responded to 18,076 emergency calls in the 99/00 budget year. This year the Fire Department is expected to respond to 25,000 emergency calls. That is a 38% increase in emergency response calls. During that same period the number of firefighters per capita has gone down 13%. We are overstretching our resources and fewer firefighters are responding to more emergency calls.

Not only is population causing the ratio of firefighters per capita to grow, the City is making it even worse by shrinking the size of our fire department. When we should be adding firefighters to keep up with growth, we eliminated six firefighters in the 03/04 and 04/05 budget years.

Situational Problems

The Fire Department serves to protect the public and provide emergency services. This mission is seriously challenged. To have a complete understanding of the challenges we have to understand how the Fire Department works.

Engine Company Operation

An engine company consists of a fire engine and a minimum of three firefighters. Each firefighter has a job on the engine and it cannot function if even one person is missing. This is the reason you see a fire engine at the store with all of the people assigned to that unit. One person cannot go to the store because the engine could not operate without that person; therefore, the entire engine goes to the store. If an emergency call comes in while they are away from the station, the engine can still respond to the emergency. They don't have to wait for one person to get back from the store.

One Person Squad

A one person squad consists of one firefighter in a smaller truck. It has a critical role in the operation of the entire Fire Department. The one person squad acts as a rover. It can be assigned to replace a firefighter who for whatever reason is not able to report or must leave the station. This ensures that an engine or ladder company does not become unavailable because it is missing one of its operators.

All four of the Fire Departments one person squads are out of service because there are not enough firefighters to staff them.

Currently, if a firefighter is unavailable to report or must leave the station one of two things happen. Either someone else must be called in on overtime, or the engine or ladder company must be removed from service. Another situation where the one person squad is important is public hazard response. An example is power lines that have fallen. When power lines go down, the Fire Department responds to guard the lines and protect the public until PG&E can arrive. This is the job of the one person squad. Since we have no one person squads, when power lines go down an entire engine company must respond and wait for PG&E.

That engine company is now out of service. If an emergency arises in their assigned area, an engine company from a different station must respond. The other engine company is further away and takes longer to respond. Critical minutes that could save a life are lost because the assigned engine company is out of service. That engine could be out of service for hours.

Ward 6

In ward 6 we have two fire stations #7 and #13. Station 7 is located near Ming and Akers while Station 13 is located near New Stine and Panama lane. Station 13 is facing some serious issues. It has only one three person engine company in operation. The one person squad assigned to the station is out of service. This poses a serious risk to everyone living in the Ridgeview High School area.

Per OSHA regulations, for safety firefighters are not allowed to enter a burning structure unless there are four firefighters present. Two enter the building; two stay outside as backup. This rule is waived if a person is trapped in the structure. Currently with only three firefighters at station 13, when they respond to a fire in your neighborhood they can only fight the fire from the outside. They aren't allowed to enter the building until backup arrives from another fire station. All the while, your property is burning. A fire that may have been quickly extinguished with minimal damage burns while you wait.

Most cities our size operate their engines and ladder trucks with four firefighters instead of three specifically because of the two in two out rule. We chose to go a different route and operate with three firefighters and a one person squad making the fourth person. Now those decisions have come back to haunt us. Because we don't have the fourth person at Station 13, our property is at risk and we are less safe then we were.

Conclusion

City government exists to ensure public safety. We pay our taxes to fund public safety. Roads, swimming pools, affordable housing, redevelopment, codes and regulations mean nothing without public safety. We need to refocus on public safety and fix the problems we have in the police and fire departments.