Sept. 05--A couple of hours after the City Council Public Safety Committee delved into the San Antonio Fire Department's response times and resources, the firefighters' union said Wednesday it thinks the city wasn't properly allocating equipment or funds to handle emergency calls.
"They say they don't have the money, but we think the money is there," union President Chris Steele said.
Fire Chief Charles Hood countered the association's message and described the additions made to the department since 2006, including 167 firefighters along with seven EMS units, four fire companies, six replacement stations and two new stations.
This year's proposed budget includes $3 million worth of replacement equipment and two cadet classes, with 43 fire and 40 EMS trainees, in 2014.
At the committee meeting, Hood and the council members discussed how the department should plan for the future and keep response times low.
There's no federal law covering response times, but the guidelines most often recognized are set by the National Fire Protection Association, officials said.
In 2010, NFPA recommended a "consistent" four-minute response for the initial fire unit and eight minutes for the following companies, according to the code.
Currently, the department's first responders average nearly eight minutes for a medical call and about 7 1/2 minutes for a nonmedical, or fire, call, the SAFD says.
Adding enough equipment and manpower to meet the NFPA standard of four minutes is too costly for most major cities, Hood said. The goal of the department is to cover 90 percent of all city blocks within four minutes and 15 seconds, but reaching that would be difficult, Hood said.
Programs, such as having paramedics on fire engines as well as ambulances, and planning for population growth are two ways to reduce response times or keep them the same, Hood said.
Areas along or outside Loop 1604 have the longest travel time from the stations in their area, a department map shows.
Even so, it's inside Loop 410 where there are more stations that have the higher percentage of longer response times, Hood said.
"I was as taken aback as anyone in our group," he said, and attributed the causes to denser populations and more calls in that area.
Steele agreed that planning is important, but said no amount of programs will make up for a shortage of equipment.
To buy that equipment, the city needs to prioritize, he said. He pointed to the more than $80 million public safety headquarters, finished last year, as an example.
"And you come to me and say 'I don't have any money?'" Steele said. "I don't think that's acceptable."
Copyright 2013 - San Antonio Express-News
