Fire Department Station Location Study
Presented on March 26, 2012
City of Pasadena
Calvin E. Wells, Fire Chief
Kevin Costa, Deputy Fire Chief
Citygate Associates, LLC
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Project Deliverables
• Comprehensive review of the deployment system
• Determination of the most efficient number and location of fire stations
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Today’s Briefing
• Outlines Citygate’s findings, opinions and recommendations for next steps
• In summary form this briefing will:– Identify what the current system provides– What changes, if any, could occur in fire
station locations
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Performance Review Components
• Existing deployment• Risks and expectations• Measure fire unit travel times • Response statistics • Gap analysis
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Field Deployment Strategy
• Deployment is about the speed and weight of the attack
• Speed is delivered with neighborhood based units
• Weight is the massing of multiple units quickly enough to provide enough firefighters to stop the escalation of the emergency
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Multiple-Unit Response
• Multiple units are needed to deliver enough firefighters in a reasonable time to serious emergencies to simultaneously and effectively perform the tasks needed for the outcome
• 15 firefighters minimum are needed within an 11-minute total response time for positive urban outcome expectations
• This is known as concentration of companies
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Significant Incident Types
• In 2010 the Department responded to 14,941 incidents for an average of 41 incidents per day
• 73% of incident responses were to EMS
• 2.18% to fires of all types
• 76 building fires or 6.3/month
• 40% of incidents at dwellings
• 17% on streets and freeways
• 15% at commercial / business
2 or more 38.11%3 or more 16.71%4 or more 6.20%Minimal Mutual Aid
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• 1st Apparatus On Scene <= 5:52 @ 91.1%
• Exceeds Citygate recommendations for 7:00 @ 90% and is consistent with published best practices
• Travel time is 4:41 min/sec @ 90%
• Ambulance travel time is 6:19 min/sec @ 90%
• First Alarm arrival by 10:40 min/sec @ 89.8%
• No City adopted response time goal or measure
• Dispatch is 1:30 min/sec @ 90%
• Turnout time is 1:58 min/sec @ 90%
EMS & Fire Response Times
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Travel Time By Station Area
Station4-Min Percent &
Quantity Min/Secs. @90%
31 87.95% (2,449) 04:10
36 88.00% (2,367) 04:10
33 83.17% (2,122) 04:30
32 73.09% (1,208) 05:00
34 86.54% (1,085) 04:15
37 69.33% (988) 05:15
38 57.05% (333) 05:50
39 59.15% (284) 05:55
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Geographic Findings
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Findings and Recommendations
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GIS Finding
Finding #6: If the City wants to maintain 4-minute travel time coverage for the first-due fire unit to all neighborhoods, eight (8) fire station locations are necessary.
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Recommendation #1 – Deployment Measures
Distribution of Fire Stations: To treat medical patients and control small fires, the first-due unit should arrive within 7 minutes, 90% of the time from the receipt of the 9-1-1 call in the Verdugo regional fire dispatch center.
This equates to 1 minute dispatch time, 2 minutes company turnout time and 4 minutes drive time in the most populated areas.
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Multiple Unit Deployment Measure
Multiple-Unit Effective Response Force for Serious Emergencies: To confine fires near the room of origin, to stop wildland fires to under three acres when noticed promptly and to treat up to five medical patients at once, a multiple-unit response of at least 15 personnel should arrive within 11 minutes from the time of 9-1-1 call receipt in fire dispatch, 90% of the time.
This equates to 1 minute dispatch time, 2 minutes company turnout time, and 8 minutes drive time spacing for multiple units.
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Discussion and Questions