UTFFEMT
06-02-2005, 12:53 PM
Fire department adds workers
Cathy Allred NORTH COUNTY STAFF
Life couldn't get much more exciting for Fire Chief Dale Ekins and his crew at the fire station.
Lehi city is taking the first step toward a full-time firefighting and emergency medical service by adding four full-time personnel and building a $400,000 addition on to the station.
"I'm just excited, it's going to be a big step in the service level to people in the community," Ekins said. "You can use the word 'ecstatic' if you want with the level of service we are going to be able to provide to the residents."
If the City Council approves the municipality's proposed tentative 2005-2006 fiscal budget, Ekins would move or hire cross trained firefighters and EMTs to full-time status, enabling the department to provide 12-hour full-time fire and EMS coverage, Mondays through Saturdays.
"Based on performance measurements from the Fire/EMS Department our response time has been dropping and with the goal the fire/EMS have had to be close to the national average in response times, this step was necessary to make improvements and also to take a step forward to 24/7 coverage," said Ron Foggin, city finance director.
Response time -- the time it takes for volunteers to respond to a call out to an emergency -- has been getting longer, he said. The average time has moved from six minutes two years ago to just under 14 minutes. The national standard for firefighters is under five minutes.
Having two full-time EMTs/firefighters at the station will cut down on response time because there will not be the initial wait for department on call volunteers to get to the station before the ambulance can leave which has to be manned by two qualified personnel.
Foggin said he attributed the high response time to an ever expanding city, busier streets and a larger population.
The move to full-time status during the day will also allow for a full time fire marshal to take care of inspections and other growth and development responsibilities for the city.
"The estimated cost is very little. The staff has worked to come up with a solution that would give the city the best coverage with the least amount of increased cost," Foggin said. "Of course, with this system we're going to still rely heavily on our very qualified part time fire personnel."
The budget for the move calls for the proposed full-time employee hours replacing the nearly equivalent number of hours served by part time personnel to compensate for some of the cost to the city.
A 4,000-square-foot addition to the fire station on 150 N. Center St. will add length to its existing bay making it an extended apparatus drive through bay and storage room, and additionally housing the city's four emergency trailers and its specialized equipment for county technical rescues. The addition plans also propose five single bedrooms and four new offices for current and future needs.
"This will give us some flexibility in having people being able to stand by at the station," said Ekins who is also looking forward to the next few steps after these two plans are completed. "Our anticipation in the future is to have a station two, so we can respond more quickly to other parts of town."
Foggin doesn't anticipate a station two becoming a reality in the near future.
"It doesn't make any sense to build a north station satellite until you have a full-time fire department," he said. "Taking this first step, that's very important."
Cathy Allred NORTH COUNTY STAFF
Life couldn't get much more exciting for Fire Chief Dale Ekins and his crew at the fire station.
Lehi city is taking the first step toward a full-time firefighting and emergency medical service by adding four full-time personnel and building a $400,000 addition on to the station.
"I'm just excited, it's going to be a big step in the service level to people in the community," Ekins said. "You can use the word 'ecstatic' if you want with the level of service we are going to be able to provide to the residents."
If the City Council approves the municipality's proposed tentative 2005-2006 fiscal budget, Ekins would move or hire cross trained firefighters and EMTs to full-time status, enabling the department to provide 12-hour full-time fire and EMS coverage, Mondays through Saturdays.
"Based on performance measurements from the Fire/EMS Department our response time has been dropping and with the goal the fire/EMS have had to be close to the national average in response times, this step was necessary to make improvements and also to take a step forward to 24/7 coverage," said Ron Foggin, city finance director.
Response time -- the time it takes for volunteers to respond to a call out to an emergency -- has been getting longer, he said. The average time has moved from six minutes two years ago to just under 14 minutes. The national standard for firefighters is under five minutes.
Having two full-time EMTs/firefighters at the station will cut down on response time because there will not be the initial wait for department on call volunteers to get to the station before the ambulance can leave which has to be manned by two qualified personnel.
Foggin said he attributed the high response time to an ever expanding city, busier streets and a larger population.
The move to full-time status during the day will also allow for a full time fire marshal to take care of inspections and other growth and development responsibilities for the city.
"The estimated cost is very little. The staff has worked to come up with a solution that would give the city the best coverage with the least amount of increased cost," Foggin said. "Of course, with this system we're going to still rely heavily on our very qualified part time fire personnel."
The budget for the move calls for the proposed full-time employee hours replacing the nearly equivalent number of hours served by part time personnel to compensate for some of the cost to the city.
A 4,000-square-foot addition to the fire station on 150 N. Center St. will add length to its existing bay making it an extended apparatus drive through bay and storage room, and additionally housing the city's four emergency trailers and its specialized equipment for county technical rescues. The addition plans also propose five single bedrooms and four new offices for current and future needs.
"This will give us some flexibility in having people being able to stand by at the station," said Ekins who is also looking forward to the next few steps after these two plans are completed. "Our anticipation in the future is to have a station two, so we can respond more quickly to other parts of town."
Foggin doesn't anticipate a station two becoming a reality in the near future.
"It doesn't make any sense to build a north station satellite until you have a full-time fire department," he said. "Taking this first step, that's very important."