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Home My WebLink About02/03/2009, SS1 - FIRE DEPARTMENT MASTER PLAN Coun Ci t Mmfiq D�2/3/09 acEnaa Repoat CITY OF SAN LUIS OBI SPO FROM: John Callahan, Fire Chief SUBJECT: FIRE DEPARTMENT MASTER PLAN RECOMMENDATION Receive a presentation on the Fire Department's Master Plan prepared by Citygate Associates. DISCUSSION Overview The completion of master plans for major city services is important and something that our community has engaged in over the years and, in some cases, fairly regularly. For example, we look at our long term sewer and water services at regular intervals; a police service master plan was completed not too many years ago. While the Fire Department has completed internal plans, staff cannot recall a time when a fire service master plan has been presented to the City Council. Therefore, as part of the 2007-09 Financial Plan, Council identified the development of a Fire Department master plan as a component of its Public Safety major City goal. Such a plan is to serve four main purposes: 1. Assist the Fire Department as it plans and moves into the future. 2. Provide for periodic evaluations on organizational effectiveness. 3. Educate the community, fire department leadership, and elected officials on fire service needs and service level objectives. 4. Validate the level of professionalism within the organization and, ultimately, comparing our Department to the accepted practices of the fire service in general. Why Review a Master Plan Now,During Challenging Financial Times? In addition to assuring that current services are being provided in a cost-effective and professional manner, master planning is also about taking a long term view — and planning for the long term makes sense at any time. Master planning will also help sharpen our focus on priorities — and a sharp focus on priorities is even more important during times of resource scarcity. While the Council is not being asked to make any resource commitments as a result of this plan — and, as always must view future resource allocation with a citywide view— given the cost and importance of fire and medical services, future decision-making will be better served by a solid foundation of information about current service levels and future needs. Thus, such a plan is not only appropriate in the current environment, but overdue and timely as we consider our fire service needs into the future. Review of Fire Department Master Plan Page 2 The Master Plan Process Preparing this master plan has been done in a collaborative fashion. An evaluation team composed of representatives from Administration, Police Department, Community Development, Fire Union and Fire Department reviewed all consultant proposals, which responded to an RFP issued in March 2008. The panel reached a unanimous decision and a contract was awarded July 10, 2008 to Citygate Associates, LLC. Data collection began shortly thereafter from all areas of the Fire Department. The Planning Department, GIS, and Police Department communications were very involved in securing incident time-measurement statistics, map analysis, and future build-out projections. The plan itself consists of three volumes: Main Report, Map Atlas, and Statistical Appendix. A complete copy has been forwarded to each Council member and another complete copy is available in the City Clerk's office for public review. The total report has also been placed on the City website. The Executive Summary, a synopsis of the most important findings and recommendations, has been attached to this report. The consultant will be present on February 3, 2009 to present his findings and recommendations and answer questions from the Council and community. FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact at this time. However, the plan will be very helpful in guiding future priorities and resources decisions. ATTACHMENTS: Fire Department Master Plan Executive Summary READING FILE AND PUBLIC REVIEW COPIES: Entire Fire Department Master Plan, including: Volume 1- Main Report; Volume 2 -Map Atlas; and Volume 3 - Statistical Appendix The Fire Department Master Plan has also been scanned and is part of the agenda report. G:Council Agenda Reports\CAR-Review Master Plan.doc 5SI -a- 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ATTACHMENT 1 The City of San Luis Obispo retained Citygate Associates, LLC to conduct.a fire department 1 planning study to include: Q ♦ A Standard of Response Cover planning analysis (fire station and crew I deployment) to examine the levels of fire department service by occupancy type and land use classification; ♦ Fire station and staffing infrastructure triggers for additional resources, if needed; ♦ An analysis of headquarters and prevention systems; ♦ Order of magnitude costs and possible financing strategies for changes to the Fire Department. This comprehensive study is presented in several sections including: this Executive Summary summarizing the most important findings and recommendations; the fir_a station/crew deployment analysis supported by maps and response statistics; the assessment of headquarters functions; and the fiscal costs and financing options associated with the proposed recommendations. The final section integrates all of the findings and recommendations presented throughout the report and concludes with suggested priorities. It needs to be stated at the front of this study that Citygate Associates team members who spent time in City of San Luis Obispo found the fire staff at all levels very cooperative and helpful. They are committed to their city, agency, and mission. Given the struggle to keep up while coping with tight revenues, there is pride and on-going effort to deliver the best customer service with the currently available resources. Fires are being attended to and medical calls are being answered with excellent patient care. We find even with the suggested improvements needed over time, that the City of San Luis Obispo Fire Department is one of the best suburban agencies we have had the pleasure to work with. This study needs to be taken in the context of a "best practices tune-up"for a good agency, not a set of fixes for an agency that is behind the times. POLICY CHOICES FRAMEWORK As a starting point, San Luis Obispo leadership needs to remember that there are no mandatory federal or state regulations directing the level of fire service staffing, response times and outcomes. Thus, communities have the level of fire services that they can afford, which is not always what they would desire. However, the body of regulations on the fire service provides that yfire services are provided at all, they must be done so with the safety of the firefighters and citizens in mind (see regulatory discussion on page 14). Given this situation, the overall challenge for the City is to design fire services within the fiscal constraints that limit the City's ability to staff, train and equip a safe and effective fire/medical response force. OVERALL CITYGATEE PERSPECTIVE ON THE STATE OF SAN LUIS OBISPO'S FIRE SERVICES In brief, Citygate finds that the challenge of providing fire services in the City is similar to that found in many California cities: providing an adequate level of fire services within the context of SSI -3 �.. Executive Summary page l cnr�au nsreierts,uc I 1 IPI IFt X(1 5'tvllt5 ATTACHMENT limited fiscal resources, competing needs, growing populations and the uncertainty that surrounds the exact timing and location of future development. The City has recognized the value of fire prevention and the need to prevent or limit the severity of fires given the type of housing stock, commercial buildings, younger or elderly residents and the threat of wildland fires on the City's edges. To meet these challenges, the City has adopted safety codes and inspection programs more strenuous than those mandated by state minimums. Examples include the automatic fire sprinkler ordinance, hazardous materials code enforcement, 0 and the newer multi-dwelling property inspection program. For the risks present in San Luis Obispo, which are more often found in much larger communities, and given the modest quantity of on-duty firefighters, the City's commitment to fire prevention programs must be continued and not seen as "nice-to-have" in tough economic times. As much as San Luis Obispo Fire Department as a "full service agency" wants to do all of the E programs that an "all risk" fire department does, it does not currently have the resources in terms of funds, time and personnel to fulfill this vaned mission effectively in every area. This is not a unique circumstance. Many moderate-sized departments, one to four stations in size, have this e difficulty. This Master Plan will offer advice on giving priority to high frequency, high impact programs during the economic downturn. Over time, as resources increase, so can fire t department programs. Citygate evaluated all aspects of the Fire Department during the preparation of this deployment t study and fire prevention systems review including fiscal recommendations, and three critical 1 challenges for the City emerged. To address each of these challenges, there are findings and recommendations that deserve specific and particular consideration. 1 Throughout this report, Citygate makes observations, key findings and, where appropriate, specific action item recommendations. Starting in Section 5 on page 93, all, the findings and recommendations are presented together, in order. Overall, there are 21 key findings and 20 t specific action item recommendations. It is imperative that the reader of this study understands that while there are issues to be planned for and improved upon in the Department, there is not a problematic, "won't do it, can't do it" culture to be overcome. The employees of the Department are eager for a plan that gives direction and for the resources to do an even better job for the citizens of San Luis Obispo. Q In this Executive Summary, instead of citing all the findings and recommendations; Citygate will only highlight the most critical ones across three challenges: MAIN CHALLENGES I' One can summarize the fire service challenges that face the City in three themes: (1) insufficient firefighter staffing in the existing system along with the need for an additional station in the annexation growth area; (2) the modest need to increase headquarters program functions; and 1 (3) the need for a set of fiscal policies to fund improvements in fire services in conjunction with ' new development. Because of slow growth of revenue over the past decade due to recessions and state revenue I� policies towards the cities, the City has not been able to increase career staffed field resources; a Damn.uc Executive Summary + 1 page 2 (' wr r uucnr cnr¢n P. 9_ I� a - ATTACHMENT while at the same time, it had to limit the headquarters support personnel and supply needs. While City Measure "Y" has helped in recent years by restoring two positions to the fire headquarters team, the measure was designed before the recent and severe national economic downturn. As such, the City currently still has insufficient resources for all of its annual operating needs. Challenge 1: Field Operations Deployment (Fire Stations and Staffing) Fire department deployment, simply stated, is about the speed and weight of the attack. Speed calls for first-due, all risk intervention units (engines, ladder trucks and specialty companies) strategically located across a department. These units are tasked with controlling everyday average emergencies without the incident escalating to second alarm or greater size, which then unnecessarily depletes the department's resources as multiple requests for service occur. Weight is about multiple-unit response for significant emergencies like a "room and contents structure fire," a multiple-patient incident, a vehicle accident with extrication required, or a complex rescue or wildland fire incident. In these situations, departments must assemble enough firefighters in a reasonable period in order to control the emergency safely without it escalating to greater alarms. In Section 2 of this study, Standards of Response Cover (Station/Staffing) Analysis, Citygate's analysis of prior response statistics and use of geographic mapping tools reveals that the City has a speed and weight of attack problem. There are currently not enough on-duty firefighters citywide to handle more than one modest building fire emergency or 1 to 3 less serious emergencies at once. To fill out an appropriate initial attack force on serious fires, the City must send all of its four fire station crews, plus at least one County fire crew, if the County is even immediately available and close by to respond. The current City fire service deployment system has served the community well in the past before but is now increasingly strained to handle more than one serious event and to provide equitable coverage in all of the emerging suburban population density neighborhoods that could develop in the southern annexation areas. The City can consider growing its fire defenses ® commensurate with the risk and call for service growth; however, that will not occur until there is a significant economic recovery in local revenues. While no one city (even a metropolitan one) can stand by itself and handle everything and any possibility without help, a desirable goal is to field enough of a response force to handle a community's day-to-day responses for primary single-unit response needs equitably to all neighborhoods, as well as be able to provide an effective initial response force (first alarm) to moderately serious building fires. ® Due to the local economy, the City has struggled over the decades to increase the daily firefighter staffing as the population and calls for service have significantly increased. As the following table shows, the daily firefi ter (not counting the Battalion Chief) count of 13 is only two more than was provided 30 years ago in 1978: Executive Summary ® m page 3 OITuflif flssocinits tl( 1 ATTACHMENT Historical Daily Firefighter Staffing in the City 1978 34,050 11 1,095 2002 44,399 12 3,952 2004 44,163 13 4,263 2008 44,489 13 4,154 The City is close to a desirable goal of being self-sufficient for usual and customary emergencies by fielding four fire companies per day. However, there are two gaps that, over time, could be improved as fiscal resources allow: 1. The lack of 4-minute primary unit coverage by a City unit in the southern annexation areas; 2. Not enough total firefighters on duty to field an effective initial force to serious fires without help from the County Fire Department. While the City could staff each ofthethree existing fire engines with 4 firefighters per day minimum, up from three, replacing the staffing reliance on the County for one additional 3- firefighter engine on a first alarm fire, it does not address response times in the southern annexation area or allow simultaneous calls to be covered by a 5h unit in the event a County unit is not available. Over time, as fiscal resources further allow, if the City added a 5h fire station and crew in the southern annexation area, and staffed the engine with a minimum of three personnel, then the daily staffing increases to 16 per day (plus the Battalion Chief) would improve the response times in the southern part of the City. Moreover, the increase also would improve City-based staffing to serious multiple-unit emergencies in alignment with national best practice recommendations. Therefore, adding a 5`b fire station and crew improves all the response system deficits identified in this study. Thus, Citygate's kel deployment findings and recommendations are summarized below. For reference purposes, the findings and recommendation numbers refer to the sequential numbers in the main body of the report. Note that not all findings and recommendations that appear in this report are listed in this Executive Summary. Finding#1: The City does not have a fire deployment measure adopted by the City Council that includes a beginning time measure starting from the point of dispatch receiving the 911-phone call, and a goal statement tied to risks and outcome expectations. The deployment measure should have a second measurement statement to define multiple-unit response coverage for serious emergencies. Making these deployment goal changes will meet the best practice recommendations of the Center for Public Safety Excellence (formerly the Commission on Fire Accreditation International). awmMm.KExecutive Summary page 4 i ATTACHMENT Finding#3: Given the travel distances in the existing southwest and southern annexation areas, a 5h fire station is desirable, when the annexation areas fully develop. Finding#4: If an additional fire company location could be funded, effective first-due unit coverage can be obtained at the build-out of the City from five (5) fire station sites, at 4 minutes travel time. Finding#5: While multiple-unit coverage is currently adequate in the core of the City, it depends on successful, timely, mutual aid from either of the two County stations, which are not always available. A future 5h City fire station will increase multiple-unit coverage in the southwest and southern areas, as well as lessen dependence on the two County fire stations. Finding#10: The City benefits from the mutual aid regional response system. While this system cannot replace existing City stations or units, the City should continue to participate in this valuable support system for simultaneous calls for service and multiple-unit serious emergencies. Recommendation #1: The City should adopt revised performance measures to direct fire station location planning and to monitor the operation of the Department. The measures should take into account a realistic company turnout time of 2 minutes and be designed to deliver outcomes that will save,patients medically salvageable upon arrival; and to keep small, but serious fires from becoming greater alarm fires. Citygate recommends these measures be: 1.1 Distribution of Fire Stations: To treat medical patients and control small fires, the first-due unit should arrive within 7 minutes, 90 percent of the time from the receipt of the 911 call. This equates to 1 minute dispatch time, 2 minutes company turnout time and 4 minutes drive time spacing for single stations. 1.2 Multiple-Unit Effective Response. Force for Serious Emergencies: To confine fires near the room of origin, to stop wildland fires to under 3 acres when noticed promptly and to treat up to 5 medical patients at once, a multiple-unit response of at least 14 personnel should arrive within 11 minutes from the time of 911 call receipt, 90 percent of the time. This equates to 1 minute dispatch time, 2 minutes company turnout time and 8 minutes drive time spacing for multiple units. Recommendation#2: As fiscal resources allow, the most beneficial next improvement in fire services the City could make would be to add a fire station in the southern City area equipped with one fire engine and a 3-person crew. Recommendation #3: The City should adopt fire deployment measures for the emerging southern annexation areas, ranging from rural to emerging suburban Executive Summary page 5 ME ANOTIs.uc ATTACHMENT to suburban based on population, along the lines of this table modeled after the recommendations in NFPA 1720 on combination (volunteer) fire services. These measures would allow the City to define the services that can be cost effectively delivered in the early annexation period and then set the trigger point for adding fire services. I Proposed Deployment Measures Based on Population Densities >1,000 250-1,000 <250 people/sq. mi. people/sq. mi. people/sq. mi. 1st Due Travel Time 4 8 12 I Total Reflex Time 7 11 15 1 st Alarm Travel Time 8 12 16 1 st Alarm Total Reflex 11 15 19 Recommendation #4: The City needs to fund a fire records system that is National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) version 5 compliant. E Recommendation #5: If, prior to the funding being available to operate a 5`h fire station; the t City had partial funding to increase the number of daily firefighters, it could do so by increasing Station 1 from 4 firefighters to 5 firefighters per day. This would allow either: O A 3-person engine company to respond to medical emergencies and small fires, while the other two personnel would still cover a dedicated ladder truck and be able to respond to structure fires and technical rescue calls citywide where the crew could t combine with an engine crew(s). t O Or, three personnel would staff an engine/ladder "quint" apparatus and two personnel would respond in a squad to downtown area medical emergencies. B Both of these staffing options require additional discussion with the firefighters' representatives and making the decision on if the current t "quint" should be replaced with a dedicated ladder truck. t When the City can add a 6`i' firefighter per day to Station 1, then split the crews into two 3-firefighter crews and open the 5"' station. In a last phase, as funding allows at the build-out of the City, the City can increase the staffing at Station 1 on the pumper/ladder unit to 4 firefighters per day, which is a much more effective team to operate a g ladder truck at a serious building fire. 6 DWI. �S 1 —g' c mann nssscims.uc Executive Summary page 6 li 1 IYllctlil tl l:i115 ATTACHMENT Challenge 2: Headquarters Program Functions A fire department San Luis Obispo's size needs to have a management team that is the proper size, and adequately trained and supported. There are increasing regulations to be dealt with in operating fire services, and the proper hiring, training and supervision of line employees requires an equally serious commitment to leadership and general management functions. The organization chart shows an organization that should generally meet the needs of a department the size of San Luis Obispo's. However, due to the fiscal pressures on the City, there has been greater emphasis on staffing fire companies to provide emergency response than on the needs of the management team to coordinate and lead the organization. As the City struggled with its shrinking finances, it froze some staff positions in some of the essential fire headquarters support positions. This situation developed as an interim solution until the budget situation would improve. Given the on-going revenue challenge situation, the role of the San Luis Obispo Fire Department services in the community needs to be re-assessed for some programs. The Department does not, and will not for some time, have the size nor depth to be all things to all people and must prudently choose what emergency and prevention responsibilities it can successfully carry out. Each of the roles, such as hazardous materials inspections, technical rescue, hazardous materials response, or public education requires the dedication of resources, personnel time, operational funds, and management oversight, which the Department has in short supply. This means the leadership team must focus on the programs having the greatest frequency of need or that impact firefighter and citizen safety. Many of the pieces are in place to make this happen, the hard part is choosing the programs and providing the effective direction to the Department to make things happen. In today's litigious society with the ever-increasing oversight of the fire service by state and federal regulators, the San Luis Obispo Fire Department cannot afford to ignore health, safety, training, and legal mandates while simultaneously loading itself down with self-imposed restrictions that consume precious resources. Citygate understands the City's severe fiscal situation and does not find the headquarters function significantly insufficient. In particular, for a city its size, there is a significant commitment to fire prevention programs. However, the following findings and recommendations do point the way for the Fire Chief and staff to first prioritize the current resources to the highest priority needs and to provide a road map from which to request additional resources as the City finds the ability to provide them. The following recommendations for the headquarters and support functions for the San Luis Obispo Fire Department can be accomplished over time as City fiscal resources allow. These recommendations also provide the command staff the information from which to prioritize the resources,both in staff and funding, that they do have: Finding#12: Given the scope of programs in the Department, the need for executive oversight of these programs, and the need for a trained, certified Fire Chief level position to back-up the on-duty Battalion Chief, the Department needs a second in command chief(Deputy Chief). The Department is not top heavy with only the Fire Chief and four Battalion Chiefs. The Fire Chief also has to manage citywide disaster preparedness, which has no staff assigned in the Department. Given all these 5.51 Executive Summary Page otr�at�sssciei[s uc !1 tf 116I.:r till lllt ATTACHMENT issues, the Department is clearly large enough for a second in command to the Fire Chief, at a Deputy Chief level position. Finding#13: The size, scope and advanced programs in the Fire Prevention programs fora City the size of San Luis Obispo are exceptional in breadth and quality. The City is making a real effort to prevent fires, which allows it to limit loss and the overall quantity of needed firefighters. Finding#15: While the City has been able to invest in a new central station and headquarters, the other three stations are 30-55 years old, and when built, were not constructed to be 50-100 year facilities. They have been given some upgrades, but more will be necessary. In other cities today, the more common size for a single fire company neighborhood station with space for reserve apparatus, separate gender areas and on-site outdoor activity space is an approximately 5,000 square foot and larger building on at least a 1+ acre site. The City will soon be facing significant repair and upgrade needs at the three neighborhood fire stations. The fire training area is crowded and produces noise and smoke at times better suited to a more outer city or industrial zone area. Recommendation#7: The Department needs to add an. Operations Chief (Deputy Chief position) as soon as fiscally possible. There are too many large programs without enough supervision and coordination or the Fire Chief alone to handle, much less have the time to plan and be an overall effective City Department Head. Recommendation#8: Given the economic constraints on adding more staff to fire prevention over the foreseeable life of this fire master plan, the Department may have to begin to triage its fire inspection services to the most critical occupancies if workload exceeds available staffing. Those with smaller fire code requirements and risk for fire are going to have to be inspected on a longer cycle or even be moved to a self- inspection program. As the City grows and has increased economic resources, a workload analysis should be done on fire prevention, and as needed, additional inspection and clerical resources will probably need to be added. Recommendation#9: Given the City's strong commitment to prevention as evidenced by its fire sprinkler requirements, the City should continue to invest more in the wildland fuel reduction program. The City will never have enough firefighters on duty to prevent a wildland conflagration. Individual properties have to be educated on defensible space issues and the need for fuel reduction. Recommendation#11: The City should program for an extensive evaluation of its fire station and fire training building needs, and then make long-term, cost- effective Capital Improvement Project decisions to either continue to repair the three older stations, or given the small parcel sizes and ages, re-build them completely nearby. ..�.. SS1 - /o m Executive Summary artvmt nu amR.uc _ --,--,- - _a-ry page 8 lilf 1 11116110 tltYllll 1 ® ATTACHMENT Additionally, the City should investigate other fire training areas and Partnerships with County Fire, police agencies and the colleges. 9 Challenge 3: Costs and Funding Strategies 0 The current local government revenue structure in California makes it highly uikely that the City can fund the recommended fire service improvements and facility replacements without nl some additional sources of revenue. New residential development, particularly if not accompanied by new high sales tax generating commercial business, will not generate sufficient new. General Fund revenue to pay its share of both current City services and at least new minimally adequate fire and medical emergency response services to serve the development. The fiscal chapter of this study on page 88 summarizes the funding strategies for new development that cities in California can use to grow fire services commensurate with new development. No one strategy is perfect, either fiscally or politically. The City has time during the current new construction slow down to consider the alternatives and choose the best-fit method to use going forward once new construction restarts to the eventual build-out of the General Plan. FIRE PLAN PHASING AND COSTS The following costs are estimated in current dollars to show the order of magnitude of what is ahead for City fire services in the mid term to build-out. If the City decides to begin adding staff to the stations as recommended by Citygate, the table below provides an illustration or sample of how this might be phased in over several years and the associated annual estimated cost in FY 08-09 dollars. Sample Phasing and Additional Cost Plan �� ; r�;4��'�Lfx �#�r,.�' 3w:t�x� .�+�s'�wq$�wR Op•� ¢ '• • r (",.'One Detailed study and costing of the fire plan ' Recommendations Staff Time Add a Deputy Fire.Chief position $ 225,587 Two Dep. Chief vehicle and office space Conduct a repair/replacement study for the older fire $ 771000 stations $ 75,000 Staff a 5`"fire station with a 3-person crew Three Construct 5r"fire station without land costs $1,735,036 5`"-S tation Fire Pumper $2,750,006 Four Add one fire inspector and one clerical support position $ 238 $ 450,000 ,928 Outer Year Totals: 2 274 551 Long �— 3 277 00. 0 Term Total Replacement of Fire Stations 2 and 3 $5.5M Executive Summary SE _ !/ n ` page 9 mr62 I11111M, I , - fit(!I[f16{9(f S[IVIfIS Priority One ATTACHMENT ♦ Absorb the policy recommendations of this fire services study and adopt revised fire department performance measures to drive the location and timing of fire stations. ♦ If one-time funding can be identified, purchase an NFIRS 5 compliant fire department integrated records system. ♦ When on-going funding becomes available, add an Operations Chief (Deputy Chief position). Priority Two ♦ If one-time funding can be identified, study in-depth the older fire facilities and make long-term repair or replacement decisions. ♦ Begin to identify and conduct the arpropriate due-diligence steps to identify and eventually secure or purchase a 5 fire station site in the southern annexation area. ♦ Using one-time funding or federal grants, plan for and replace the older fire hose inventory and structure fire breathing apparatus units. On-Going ♦ Continue to support fire prevention programs, especially in the areas of wildfire and fuel reduction programs. ♦ As the economy recovers, look in-depth at the increased commercial construction I and the need for fire code inspection services over the long term. Identify the staff impacts and plan as necessary for additional fire inspection and clerical support positions. ♦ When the ambulance agreement comes up for re-consideration, discuss the need for the Department to have fiscal support towards establishing a paramedic program supervisor, as a sworn or unsworn position. 0 C �c Executive Summary „.,,, page 10