TO: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
FROM: Daniel Jones, Fire Chief
SUBJECT: Rationale for Addition of Full Time Firefighter Positions
DATE: April 27, 2005
The purpose of this memorandum is to explain the request that six (6) to nine (9) full time firefighter positions be added to the authorized positions in the fire department emergency operations division. This request represents the first phase of a proposed 2 to 3 year phased installment of 18 new operational personnel as identified in previous requests from the Fire Department. The additional personnel would be used on existing units to increase the initial on-scene staffing for fires, emergencies and other services. The additional personnel would also ease the relief factor for maintaining a minimum fire protection coverage assignment for the Town.
q During the 1999-2000 fiscal year the Town Council authorized the addition of six positions to fire operations to meet the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s mandate to maintain two unassigned firefighters outside of a building fire to act as a safety backup team. These six firefighters serve on Squad-33, a quick-response rescue pumper utilized to ease response load on the large and expensive aerial truck. During fiscal years 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 twelve firefighters were added by the Town Council to staff the new Fire Station #5 near Southern Village. Although Fire Station #5 was opened primarily for protection of the new southern annexation areas, the overall fire protection of the Town benefited by this improvement, because this station augmented the coverage in neighborhoods south of McCauley Street, the Morgan Creek area and across the southern portion of the University campus.
q Current recommended standards of coverage (ISO and NFPA) for municipal fire protection suggest between 15 and 18 fire personnel on the first alarm response for structure fires and alarms. The current minimum on-duty staffing for Chapel Hill is 16. Under this staffing level we only hold two units in reserve to cover the remainder of the city during a first alarm response even as we have insufficient personnel (13) initially arriving at a building fire. Once a working fire is determined, one of the two remaining units must be used, reducing Town coverage to one unit. By increasing our minimum to 22 (possible with the addition of 18 personnel) we could initially respond 15 and still have two full units available for remaining coverage of the Town.
q Increasing key fire units in the campus and commercial areas to staffing minimums of 4 instead of the current level of 3 would significantly improve individual fire company efficiency and firefighter safety when operating at working incidents and operating in large occupied structures.
q Frequently, Squad 33 must now go out of service when staffing levels are reduced because of injury and illness drop and there are not enough personnel to staff the unit. This is one less unit of coverage for the Town. This reduces our overall coverage and requires the aerial truck to respond to all calls in the Elliott Road area, thus placing additional use on this heavy and expensive specialized fire apparatus.
q Recently, during simultaneous fire incidents at the IFC Women’s Shelter and a condominium at Southern Village there were no Chapel Hill Fire units available for over an hour, and coverage of Chapel Hill fell to New Hope Volunteer FD and Parkwood Volunteer FD. This is a high risk scenario due to the many complicated and unusual occupancies in Chapel Hill and on the UNC Campus. Outside fire agencies do not have the necessary familiarity to deal with problems in many of our occupancies.
q Our experience with multiple house fires during the December 2002 ice storm clearly demonstrated to us the improved operations achieved with this level of minimum staffing. Lower levels of staffing reduce the potential for successful rescue of trapped victims and result in greater property damage because tasks must be delayed until additional resources arrive or other tasks are completed. In this regard, mutual aid does not improve results due to extended arrival times.
q Chapel Hill ranks last when compared to ten comparably sized North Carolina municipalities in firefighter to population ratio. The addition of 18 personnel would only place us at nine out of the ten. Even after the addition of 18 firefighters we would still be comparably low in fire protection staffing, especially when considering our community and the fire protection risks we are responsible to cover. (Comparison chart attached.)
q As workload in the Fire Department increases there is also a need for additional fire inspectors (Life Safety Division Fire Marshals) to handle increased code enforcement inspections, plan reviews, fire cause and hazard investigations and life safety complaints. Part of the addition of these 18 positions could also serve as “on-shift” Fire Marshals who could handle the additional Life Safety workload on a 24 hour basis while being available to supplement operational staffing. This would also facilitate more frequent occupancy checks at night time establishments (bars and clubs) thus improving community safety in gathering places. (Staffing distribution attachment)
q Increased responsibility assumed by the fire department (1st Responder, rescue, terrorism response, community safety education, emergency management, etc.) over the past twelve years has significantly increased the workload and service demand. Currently I believe there is sufficient fire apparatus (fire trucks) to provide the coverage needed in Chapel Hill. Increased staffing on that existing apparatus would increase effectiveness, efficiency, safety and relief factor.
q Our recommendation to phase this staffing increase is relative to the total cost of the request and the potential of federal grants to help in subsequent years. We recommend adding at least six positions in 2005-06, at least nine positions in 2006-07 and the remainder in 2007-08 to achieve the total of eighteen new positions. The total cost of eighteen firefighters in today’s budget dollars is estimated at $868,586
q Below is a table that shows annual costs for the nine and six firefighter positions for a first full year.
|
Number of Personnel |
Salary |
Overtime |
Benefits |
Uniforms/ Equipment |
Supplies |
Total Cost |
|
9 |
$279,432 |
$15,390 |
$116,182 |
$19,149 |
$2,250 |
$434,293 |
|
6 |
$186,288 |
$10,260 |
$77,454 |
$12,765 |
$1,500 |
$288,267 |
The addition of eighteen firefighter positions to the Chapel Hill Fire Department would raise us to a more effective staffing level for the community that we protect. The community makeup includes many large and multi-story structures and a higher number than usual of multi-family dwellings. There are also many single family dwellings that have a much higher square footage interior than most communities of comparable size. Search and rescue operations under fire conditions in such residences can be time consuming and complicated. Chapel Hill has several large and active commercial districts and a historic and active downtown. The university campus creates a variety of fire protection challenges and the university and community combine to host a number of special events. Emergency access limitations are found in every part of Chapel Hill. Complete evacuation of a number of the large and highly occupied structures within the Chapel Hill community would be handicapped by the limited number of firefighters on duty at a given time. All of these factors contribute to a community whose fire protection exposures and risks exceed comparably populated communities (see attached comparison chart) yet our fire protection staffing is significantly lower. It is imperative that we staff our fire protection resources at an urban level comparable to cities of greater density and population.
We request that the Town add eighteen firefighters, phased over the next two to three budget years. This additional staffing would bring each shift up to an authorized level of 28 personnel (currently at 22) and that would result in a minimum staffing of 22. Minimum staffing is the level maintained after accounting for vacations, educational leave and sick or injury leaves. Current minimum staffing is 16 which is just enough to have one 3-firefighter crew in each station with a shift commander. The department was at minimum staffing 157 days in calendar year 2004. A minimum staffing of 22 would allow us to send 15 personnel on a structural fire response and still have 2 fire units and 7 personnel to respond to another call thereby relying less completely on mutual aid and providing a “second strike” capability. This proposed level of staffing would provide us with additional depth of coverage and some reserve capability when dealing with a structure fire. The addition of these additional personnel would also improve the safety of our personnel operating at structure fires by providing more firefighters to perform critical tasks. Currently our personnel must push their physical limits to perform these tasks without appropriate backup. There is no reasonable level of staffing that I can recommend that would provide full coverage for every potential emergency. Extreme circumstances will require that we continue to depend upon mutual aid.
FUNDING POTENTIALS
Recognizing that full funding of the requested eighteen positions would be difficult with Chapel Hill’s current revenue picture several other potential sources are suggested. The first is that the U. S. Congress has passed authorization on the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Firefighters Act of 2003. The SAFER Act was authorized in November 2003 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004. Funding level for this program is set at $65 million for this year. This program would provide grants to communities such as Chapel Hill for the hiring and training of additional firefighters on a four-year declining match similar to the law enforcement program of the mid-nineties. Under the preliminary criteria circulated we believe Chapel Hill would qualify for this program. The application period for this grant is anticipated to open in May, 2005. It is unclear when grants will be awarded.
The second potential is to continue recent efforts undertaken by the Town’s administration to work with the Governor’s office and the Legislative delegation to seek remedy for the funding deficiency for fire protection of the campus and state owned buildings. Currently the Town receives $849,764 compensation from the state for fire protection of these properties. That represents roughly 15% of this proposed budget of $5,721,518 for the fire department. When applied to the ratio of service demand provided by the fire department to the campus there is an obvious disparity. Combined, the UNC campus and UNC hospital have represented an average of 26% of the service demand. Applied to the proposed fire budget, that would mean a state share of $1,487,000 against the total. Actually, over a period of years the State contribution in percentage for fire protection to the Town has diminished. Despite an increase to $850,000 in 1998 looking back to Fiscal Year 1986-87 the state contribution compared to the fire department budget was 22.7%.
SUMMARY
Despite the difficulty in funding, the fact remains that the Chapel Hill Fire Department is understaffed operationally for the size and risk exposure we must protect. It is the recommendation of the Fire Chief that the Town endeavor to add a total of eighteen firefighters over the next two to three budget cycles. Re-development efforts in Chapel Hill and continuing density growth for both the Town and University indicates the need to address fire protection deficiencies before we fall even further behind.
Firefighters for staffing increased protection must be added in multiples of three in order to achieve balance on the three-shift rotation. The Citizens Budget Advisory Committee recommended the addition of six firefighters in FY 2005-06. The Fire Chief recommends the addition of nine firefighters in FY 2005-06. The addition of nine firefighters in the FY 2005-06 budget would require the addition of $434,293 to the fire department budget. The addition of six firefighters in the FY 2005-06 budget would require the addition of $288,267 to the Fire Department budget.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2005 Fire Staffing Survey (p. 6)
2. Fire Chief’s Recommended Distribution of Firefighters (p. 7)