Average response times have increased by more than half a minute in the wake of last month's far East Contra Costa County fire station closures, an official said Monday, and in some cases the delay has been nearly 5 minutes.
At a meeting of the East Contra Costa Fire District board Monday night, Chief Hugh Henderson reported on the effect that closing three of the agency's six remaining stations has had on the time it takes engines to reach the scene of an incident.
The failure of a proposed parcel tax forced the financially struggling district to shutter stations in Brentwood, Knightsen and Bethel Island on July 1 and lay off 15 firefighters.
The agency had closed two other stations two years ago.
A comparison of average response times districtwide just before and after the most recent cutbacks found that fire crews responding to top priority calls -- those requiring lights and sirens -- took 36 seconds longer to arrive last month even though they had 20 fewer calls than in June.
Although Henderson acknowledged that the average change does not seem very large, he noted that response times were significantly longer to calls the closed stations would have handled.
Engines that previously would have rolled out of Station 54 in downtown Brentwood took 1 minute 34 seconds longer on average to reach residents in that area last month; the response time to calls in the vicinity of closed Station 94 in Knightsen was 1 minute 5 seconds
slower than June's statistic.
But the most glaring difference was on Bethel Island, where the average response time jumped by 4 minutes 58 seconds.
Henderson also noted that although American Medical Response has an ambulance on Bethel Island at various times during the day, there are times when it is elsewhere.
The board then considered a list that Director Steve Barr had compiled outlining possible steps the district could take to save money and maximize its efficiency, one of which is using volunteer firefighters to supplement the existing staff.
Henderson said that 22 people to date -- eight of whom do not live in the district -- have submitted applications indicating they would be interested in one of the unpaid positions, which would require hundreds of hours of training.
Director Cheryl Morgan urged her colleagues to consider recovering some of the district's costs by charging those that do not pay district property taxes if they use its services.
In other actions, the board adopted a resolution supporting Bethel Island's municipal advisory council's application to the county to declare that community's former fire station an historical landmark.
Copyright 2012 - Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
