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Staff Report to the Mayor and City Council <br />Fire Resource Deployment Analysis <br />March 15, 2011 <br />Page 3 <br />areas if the local fire station is on an incident. This indicates the value of Fire Station 211 <br />inasmuch as it is centrally located and has drive times of six minutes for most of the City. <br />Incident concentration is the number of calls in a specific area (grid) over a specific time. The <br />concentration of calls varies widely throughout the City. There are three areas of greatest <br />concentration of calls: the central city area north of the I-10 freeway, the extreme northern area <br />of the City between Rancho and Pennsylvania, and the Cooley Ranch area between Santo <br />Antonio and Meadow Lane. These areas generate a greater need for service than other areas and <br />if the local station is on an incident or is closed, units from other stations will be drawn to these <br />areas. <br />Fire Station 213 has the longest response times because of its location in the south end of the <br />City and extreme distances in part of its response area. While the call load and incident <br />concentration in this response area is low as compared to the rest of the City, it should be <br />realized that closing this station would result in longer response times in the outermost corners of <br />this area. <br />Fire Station 211 has been called "central" for many years because of its central location in the <br />City, which allows it to effectively cover all of the other response areas. In addition, the highest <br />concentration of calls is in the Station 211 response area, this station is also the Administrative <br />Headquarters for the Fire Department. Shift personnel assigned to this station are those <br />individuals who have administrative assignments and work closely with their Battalion Chiefs. <br />Additionally, this station is the supply center for the Department. Critical materials such as <br />safety equipment and paramedic supplies are stored, tracked, and distributed by specially <br />assigned personnel. <br />SUMMARY <br />With the reality of either closing or browning out a fire station, the goal is to deploy our <br />resources in a way that will maximize the speed and weight of the attack, keeping in mind that <br />these issues affect all types of emergencies. An analysis of drive time maps, incident <br />concentration studies, response time and call load historical data indicates that fire station <br />location alone does not affect response times. Multi -unit response on serious emergencies and <br />simultaneous calls will draw fire resources away from their primary response area more than in <br />the past. This will result in fire units responding across the City to cover for stations that are on <br />calls. The necessity for fire stations to support each other means that closing any fire station will <br />affect the speed and weight of attack in all areas of the City. <br />A review of statistical data shows that Fire Station 213 has the lowest call volume, longest <br />response times, and the lowest incident concentration, which would indicate that closing this <br />station would have the least impact on service city-wide. However, with the current extended <br />response times from this station, service would be degraded even further, particularly south of <br />Palm Avenue and the extreme southwest portion of the City. After considering all of the issues <br />and factors affecting fire resource deployment and the fact that closing any one station will affect <br />response times throughout the City, staff is recommending rolling brown outs for Fire Stations <br />