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Report: Fire response too slow
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer
LECANTO -- Citing "very long" firefighter response times to most calls, a consultant has suggested the County Commission consider adding full-time, paid firefighters to support the volunteers' efforts. The consultant's report finds that the volunteer firefighters take up to 16 minutes to respond to 90 percent of the calls throughout the county. Average response times hover around nine or 10 minutes for medical emergencies and structure fires. "These are very long times," reads the report, which was released this month by Emergency Services Education & Consulting Group in Oregon. "These are well outside the promptness to reliably deliver successful outcomes." Some of the delay comes from the time it takes volunteers to get from their homes or offices to the fire station, where they grab their gear and head out to the emergency. The consultant offers five options for providing quicker response by having firefighters at certain fire stations around the clock (see story, Page 3). The options range from assigning the volunteer firefighters to cover shifts at some stations to a $10-million option that would place a paid firefighter and a career lieutenant at every station in the county. The County Commission will discuss the report at its Nov. 12 meeting and tell its staff which options to explore. Staffing isn't the only issue in the 150-page report. The $28,400 study, which started in January, evaluated everything from station locations to the equipment and water supply at firefighters' disposal. "We wanted to evaluate where we are and where we want to be in 10 years, by 2012," said Public Safety director Charles Poliseno. Improving the county's Fire Services Division, a network of 22 fire stations and 206 volunteers, will require a comprehensive approach, Poliseno said. "One (issue) is interrelated to the other," he said. "We couldn't say that one thing is what we need. That's why we've got to develop a plan to work on all of the areas so it comes together." In some cases, station location contributes to long response times, too. Stations in Sugarmill Woods and DeRosa should be moved to provide better coverage, the report suggests, and additional stations may be needed in growing areas such as Lecanto, Beverly Hills and Citrus Springs. Because the Ozello Fire District has just five firefighters and handles about 50 to 75 calls a year, the consultant recommends merging it into the larger Connell Heights Fire District. "Some stations may not necessarily be close enough, even if we had people sitting there and ready to respond within a minute," Poliseno said. "We've got to identify those and make sure stations are planned where the growth in the county is going." The consultant says the county should aim for a seven-minute response time for 90 percent of the calls in the "urban areas," which include the U.S. 19 corridor from Sugarmill Woods to Crystal River, most of the Central Ridge and the U.S. 41 corridor from Floral City to Citrus Springs. The remaining "rural areas" should expect a response within 12 minutes 90 percent of the time, the consultant says. "Can we meet that goal tomorrow or next week? No," Poliseno said. "Is it something to set our sights on to accomplish by the 10-year time frame? Yes." After receiving direction Nov. 12 from commissioners, Poliseno plans to meet with the volunteer firefighters, officials from the ambulance system and 911 dispatch, homeowners groups and other interested parties to hear suggestions for improving the Fire Services Division. The county will also hold a public workshop. Then officials will work with the consultant to draft a Fire Services Master Plan outlining the improvements slated for the next decade and a proposal to pay for them. The plan would come to commissioners for approval, perhaps early next year, Poliseno said. Poliseno said the county should step up its efforts to attract and retain volunteer firefighters. In that vein, the consultant recommends placing firefighter applications in more public places, such as libraries, and offering a confidential "stress management" counseling program to firefighters. The study also pointed to improvements needed to make the fire stations more livable, especially if firefighters are going to stay there on standby. Some stations have smoke detectors that don't work; others have no smoke detectors at all. The furniture, dishes and utensils are a mishmash of discarded and second-hand items. "This not only reduces the comfort and livability of the station, but also presents a cluttered, unprofessional image," the report states. The report recommends an organizational shift as well, proposing five new office positions to ease the "unmanageable" workload of the Fire Services director, Mike Schlaudraff. "The Fire Services director must regularly handle everything from leaking toilets in the stations and flat tires on pumpers, to the command of major emergencies and the management of major administrative and budgetary tasks," the report states. The proposed positions include: A volunteer coordinator to help recruit and provide support services for the firefighters. A maintenance specialist to keep the stations and equipment in good repair. A district chief to oversee the acquisition and distribution of equipment and supplies. Two deputy administrators: one to oversee operations, such as deployment planning and response readiness, and the other to handle administrative tasks. It would cost an estimated $331,387 a year to pay for those five proposed positions. -- Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached at 860-7303 or bhall@sptimes.com .
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