With reduced staffing levels, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District Chief Hugh Henderson is recommending a temporary station closure beginning September 1.
According to Chief Henderson’s recommendation, under a four-station model, he believes the best safety for the community and firefighters is to temporary close Station 54 in downtown Brentwood until they know the outcome of a potential Benefit Assessment leaving the four remaining stations to pick up the call volume.
The need to shutter a station comes as firefighters are leaving the financially strapped district for a guaranteed job at another fire district. ECCFPD is currently budgeted for 48-personnel, however, as of today there are just 35-personnel—leaving 10 open positions to be filled.
According to the Staff Report, staff is aware of one employee in a final-stage of recruitment with an outside agency and with a tentative start date of September 8, 2014. This means the District can no longer staff 5-stations even with overtime offerings.
Staffing for the month of July has been backfilled with overtime to maintain the five station model. The breakdown of the overtime is as follows; 85 shifts for open positions, 11 shifts for military leave, 11 shifts for personnel on workers compensation, 10 shifts of sick leave, and 28 shifts of vacation. There were a total of 160 shifts of overtime for the month of July. 15 shifts were mandatory holds/overtimes. (See the attached breakdown by day of the use of overtime.)
The Chief did warn that if a Benefit Assessment fails later this fall, and the FEMA Grant runs out in November, Station 94 in Knightsen will also close.
Below is information pulled out of the Staff Report.
Staff Report
At the June 2, 2014 Board of Directors Meeting, the Board requested monthly updates on personnel leaving the District to go to other agencies and a look at call volume/workload by stations.
On July 7, 2014, the Board received its monthly update regarding personnel leaving and its first look at call volume/workload by station. The Board directed staff to come back at tonight’s meeting with a station closure plan/criteria and timelines for the closures.
SUBJECT BACKGROUND
Personnel and workload:
The District is currently budgeted for 48 operational personnel, which are comprised of 3 Battalion Chiefs and 45 Station Suppression Personnel. As of July 1, our staffing level is 3 Battalion Chiefs and 35 Station Suppression Personnel. In addition to the 10 open positions, we currently have one Fire Captain on long-term workers compensation and a firefighter on active military duty.
At this point staff is aware of one employee in a final-stage of recruitment with an outside agency and with a tentative start date of September 8, 2014.
Staffing for the month of July has been backfilled with overtime to maintain the five station model. The breakdown of the overtime is as follows; 85 shifts for open positions, 11 shifts for military leave, 11 shifts for personnel on workers compensation, 10 shifts of sick leave, and 28 shifts of vacation. There were a total of 160 shifts of overtime for the month of July. 15 shifts were mandatory holds/overtimes. (See the attached breakdown by day of the use of overtime.)
To provide the Board with a snapshot of call volume and workload by stations/engine companies, the chart below details the May 1, 2013 through April 30, 2014 timeframe. Crews responded to 6,813 calls with a total of 9,064 rollouts/wheels turned, including auto aid responses from outside agencies into the District. The District-wide average response time was 7:59.
Click to enlarge
The above statistics show that the greatest number of calls and wheels turned are in both Cities, with lower call volumes in the unincorporated areas. A good portion of the auto aid responses result from GPS mapping of the proximity of the closest available resources based on the GPS locators on the engines. The Lone Tree Way area, where the borders of Brentwood and Antioch meet, is the best example of where auto aid is used to minimize the distance traveled by the first due personnel.
Station closure criteria:
The District has already gone through two rounds of station closures over the past four years. Prior to July, 2010, the District had eight fire stations. In July of 2010, the District consolidated response zones in the Discovery Bay and Byron area by closing Station 57 in Byron and Station 58 in Discovery Bay. This first round of station closures allowed the District to move personnel and establish three-person staffing in four of the six remaining stations. The call volume and
response times remained fairly consistent with suburban/rural criteria (as shown in both models/snapshots above).
In July 2012, after Measure S failed, the District closed three additional stations: Station 54 in downtown Brentwood, Station 94 in Knightsen and Station 95 in Bethel Island. These station closures resulted in layoffs of 15 full-time firefighters and the elimination of the paid on-call firefighter program. A three-station model was built with the remaining stations: Station 52 in Brentwood on Balfour Road, Station 59 in Discovery Bay on Bixler Road and Station 93 in Oakley on O’Hara Avenue. This three station model was able to provide the best coverage by using the ISO (Insurance Service Office) standards of having a fire station within 5 miles of most residents throughout the District. This model did increase the workload for personnel working out of the Brentwood and Oakley stations and the workload maintained fairly consistent in the Discovery Bay/Byron area as shown in the above model/snapshot above.
In August 2012 the District was awarded a federal SAFER Grant that provided funding to reopen two stations; in November 2012 Station 94 re-opened in Knightsen and in May 2013 Station 54 reopened in downtown Brentwood. The grant funding will end in November of this year.
Based on a review of call data during the subject time period, as the Fire Chief, I feel that this three station model, plus the District’s Cal Fire Amador contract, that was introduced in July 2012 provided the best possible coverage throughout the District. The workload for our firefighters was not consistent across the three stations during the time period when we operated under this model previously; however, the model did provide the lowest possible level of response time impacts throughout the District.
Staffing recommendations:
In light of diminished personnel, the Fire Chief plans a temporary closure of a single fire station effective September 1, 2014. To provide the best safety for our communities and firefighters, my plan is to temporarily close Station 54 in downtown Brentwood until we know the outcome of a potential fire suppression assessment being considered tonight. The four remaining stations surrounding Station 54 will pick up some of the call volume. The biggest impacts for coverage will be to Station 52 and Station 93. Additional personnel can be hired and trained, allowing Station 54 to reopen, if the assessment is adopted.
If the fire suppression assessment fails, the District will be required to close an additional station on December 1, 2014. Based on call data, staffing modeling and prior District experience, the District would close station 94 in Knightsen and return to the three station model introduced temporarily in July 2012. Operational changes to call responses and protocols will need to be implemented if we return to the three station model.
If you go:
East Contra Costa Fire Protection District Board Meeting
Monday August 4 at 6:30 pm
3231 Main St, Oakley (Oakley City Hall)
3 comments
Merge with CON FIRE or Vote Yes are your only choices left. The continued approval for new development while allowing the fire district no relief by giving free passes to developers leaves no more choices. Our Supervisor has rubber stamped several hundred homes and ignored a plea from the fire district to create benefit assessments and mitigation requirements to equalize the financial losses that would occur with such. The fire district plea was ignored. So much for the public and its safety. Before the current district was formed, the area was slated to have ten fire stations, two fire boats, and more. It started with eight and now getting down to three. We will probably be at three stations before 2015. If you think three stations are enough so be it. If you do not think that fire fighter jobs will be drawn from this districts lower paid supply to go elsewhere, so be it. However to stop both the Supervisors and Cities from controlling the districts opportunity for more revenue you must decide to vote yes for the benefit assessment or force a merger with Con Fire. There are no other choices. This district can maybe slip by another year or so because of the unusual increase tax revenue from sales of existing homes. That will level off. New development will not pay enough to equalize the fire suppression costs needed under the current structure unless it is mitigated with more fire revenue thus a benefit assessment. The Supervisors and the Cities refuse to create or share benefit assessment moneys. This has been proven by the recent several hundred new homes passed in Discovery Bay with a requested benefit assessment for fire and ignored. If we as landowners vote in a benefit assessment it will supersede the lack of the county and cities authority that have denied this. It will also provide mandatory parcel assessments above the prop 13 one percent and add a revenue fee for each new parcel when created. These funds will only be for fire thus allowing the fire district the ability to survive and grow. The only other alternative is merge with Con Fire as the president of local 1230 Vince Wells has suggested a few months ago. Con Fire has ten times the budget revenue and can absorb us as it did with Riverview Fire in Antioch years back. So, think about it, because the status quo of nothing is doomed one way other the other.
John, errrrr Chuck. Do you just completely make it up as you go?
Here’s your dummazz lesson for today.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s say your beef is with 10,000 new lots or home that have been built in the last 15 years. Since there are approximately 44,000 parcels in the District, let’s say you are having a hissy fit over roughly 23% of them. I guess because your Simpleton “I was here first” mentality is getting the best of you?
OK, then let’s knock out the revenue all those shiny new homes are sending to the District. Pretend like we’re turning them right back into dirt lots. No more anyone annoying johnny by infringing upon his little ‘burb of East County paradise.
Congratulations. Now, instead of having $8.4M in property tax revenue, you now only have a little more than $6M.
Based on avg prop tax bill of $4k * 10,000 lots * .065% avg contribution per lot = $2.6M/yr loss of revenue to the District. Some fudge factor in the number, but pretty close.
Then it’s take your pick. Whether you’re trying to run 3 stations, 5 stations or the original 8. You now have your wish and all those annoying people with their “diluting” presence on your fire services are gonzo. ‘cept now you don’t have a pot to piss in. Because you have even less possibility of having 21st century type fire suppression with the remaining money. Instead of a $4M deficit staring you in the face, it’s now $6M.
Nice shootin’, Tex.
The claim that new construction is to blame and has diluted services is a farce. Always has been. New homes pay at the same ad valorem percentage as old ones. Without their increased revenue contributions in those years, you would have been facing this problem a long time ago. Basic math is once again your enemy.
BTW, on the Vasco Road accident you commented on. First, learn to read a map. The distance from the Scenic Ave Livermore fire station is about 1/3 the distance of the nearest ECCFPD station to the incident. Not really a surprise they got there first if you understand basic time and distance concepts that most people can grasp.
But more importantly, the reason that road is a death trap is due to people like you. Those who lived in East County and convinced themselves that if they kept a stranglehold on road infrastructure by keeping it two lanes, that growth would not take place. The old NIMBY mentality.
Well you were wrong and several have died as a result. The water district could have put a 4 lane divided road in there instead.
It’s all in the history books. Look it up. Get some directions from your wife or something, since you’ll probably get lost on the way to the library.
You need to get a clue Clue. Your talking to fantasy people that you are infatuated with. Vasco Road, wow. Wake up its a dream.
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