Study Says N.C. Dept. Needs New Truck, Four Firefighters

April 11--Clinton Fire Department officials and city staff have worked for months to develop a strategic plan for the department -- that plan, which calls for the immediate purchase of a new truck and hiring of four additional firefighters, was presented to the City Council Monday.

"Council has not seen or heard any of this," Mayor Lew Starling said before the presentation. No action was ultimately taken, but the staff and equipment needs were detailed and will be considered in the months leading up to the approval of the 2012-13 budget.

Clinton interim fire chief Robert Swiger began by pointing to a March 17 structure fire at a residence on Sampson Street. Heavy smoke and flames was showing and, in a matter of eight minutes after the call went out, five firefighters were on the scene. Two firefighters went in, while three stayed out.

"They were doing the best they could," said Swiger. "They did leave the building standing. They did an excellent job for the amount of people we had. They were taking an extra chance that night."

Swiger said the response highlighted the need for more paid firefighters at the station.

Currently, there are 11 full-time staff and 17 part-time at the department's Wall Street station. During the daytime, seven are on duty, including the chief, deputy chief, training officer and four full-time members. At night, there are four firefighters on duty. The Beaman Street station is not staffed.

City officials have proposed for the next fiscal year hiring four firefighters and a realignment that would see six firefighters during the day and six at night through the utilization of part-time staff.

The department faces an increasing number of non-fire calls, a high daytime population and inconsistent response from mutual aid departments in providing service. The focus is to provide the highest level of service at the most affordable cost, ensuring the department has an adequate number of firefighters to provide that service.

"We need some help," Swiger said simply.

A staffing study for the Clinton Fire Department completed last month by Trexler Insurance and Services of Colfax, N.C. stated as much. City manager John Connet alluded to the study as he presented the department's strategic plan, and staff recommendations, to Council at Monday's meeting.

The staffing study pointed out the industry standard for responding to a structure fire is 6 minutes and 22 seconds. The total time for Clinton Fire Department units to arrive is approximately 9 minutes and 34 seconds, 3 minutes over the recommended time.

"Adequate staffing could assist with these lengthy response times in a few different ways," the staffing study stated.

Even though there are six or seven firefighters on duty each day, many times a replacement cannot be found for someone who might be sick or on vacation. Many of the part-timers also have other full-time jobs that prevent them from responding to fires. Last year, the Clinton Fire Department responded to 960 emergencies, which equates to 2.6 calls a day. The average number of firefighters responding was 3.58.

"This is not an adequate number of personnel and could result in a fire death, increased damage to property and higher injury rates for firefighters," the study stated.

The Clinton Fire Department, like all other departments, is also graded by the Insurance Services Office (ISO). Clinton receives three separate public protection scores, based on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best. Currently, the commercial area receives a score of 5, the residential area a 6 and the areas located in the county, but protected by the department, a 9.

The hiring of additional firefighters to man the Beaman Street station would decrease response times, improve fire protection and maintain the ISO rating in that area, the study stated. "Secondly, with more firefighters to man the fire trucks at both stations the department will be able to handle multiple calls at the same time instead of waiting on someone to come to the fire station and respond in a fire truck," the study reads.

There were 100 mutual aid calls last year in which the city was requested to respond outside the city limits. When the CFD staff responded to those calls, it left the city unprotected. With limited manpower currently, a similar circumstance presents itself even when responding within the city limits -- the rest of the city is unprotected.

Recommendations

Swiger, Connet and assistant manager Shawn Purvis evaluated staffing needs over the last four to five months.

The total budget for the Clinton Fire Department is $1,068,000. It is proposed to increase Rural District Fire Tax by $0.01 to cover cost of equipment and personnel serving the district, a request that would have to go before the Sampson Board of Commissioners.

Connet said Monday that recommendations were to immediately purchase a quint truck in the 2012-13 budget at a cost of $675,000, while applying for grant money for other equipment and developing a systematic replacement plan for the next 10-15 years.

In addition to hiring four firefighters, it was also recommended to convert from 12- to 24-hour shifts, gradually increase the number of firefighters to 10 per shift and contract with adjoining fire departments for manpower while utilizing part-time firefighters to fill in the gaps. The Beaman Street station should be staffed with a minimum of two personnel 24/7 and a compensation policy modified to encourage call back for firefighters, Connet said.

Full-time personnel receive compensatory time for hours worked above 168 in a four-week period, until they have reached 212 hours, at which time they will receive overtime pay of 1.5 times their regular rate. In case of a major fire, an "all call" goes out to all CFD firefighters. Through interviews conducted during the staffing study, it was found that some career personnel do not respond to incidents when off-duty as they will most likely only receive compensatory time.

The current 12-hour shift schedule at 212 hours does not help the overall staffing levels of the department, the study states. Full-time staff has very little incentive to work additional shifts or answer calls and the part-timers often have other responsibilities, making overtime pay and minimum staffing levels very hard to achieve.

"If a firefighter is off duty on Saturday night, how much do we pay them to come back?" asked Starling.

Swiger said they were seeking to offer time and a half for paid personnel who have worked between 168 and 212 hours, which has normally been reserved for anything over that 212-hour threshold for a 28-day period. Starling agreed that more incentive was needed.

"It doesn't seem fair to me that we ask somebody to come back to work and don't give them some bonus," the mayor said. "I just think if they come back, there's got to be something more."

It is also included in the city's strategic plan to notify the county that the department is reducing its response area for rescue services to fire district boundaries. The city will serve as primary responder for the fire district only, but will continue to respond to mutual aid calls.

"I want to make it clear, that we will continue to respond to mutual aid calls," said Connet. "We need the county departments as much as they need us."

Starling brought up the issue of personal vehicles, and Swiger's thoughts about off-duty firefighters responding straight to the scene.

"I think you're jamming up the scene and there's more confusion," Swiger said. "I'd rather have two or three people responding than 15 people responding, but I'd really rather have more people on the trucks."

"I can understand the backlog," said Starling, "but I'd rather have them (respond) on their personal vehicle -- even on their bicycle -- to be there to help."

National Fire Protection Association calls for 14 firefighters to be on the scene of a residential fire. Staffing needs also need to be increased to meet the OSHA two in, two out standard to maintain the city's ISO rating of 5. Due to budget constraints, it is impossible for a small community to meet the NFPA standard on its own paid personnel, according to the staffing study.

City officials agreed, saying the number of firefighters on duty should be increased to 10 per shift as the budget allows.

Revenue opportunities to fund some of the needed changes include establishing a service fee for non-fire related response, notably motor vehicle accidents, hazardous materials incidents and service calls. City staff has estimated that $30,000 can be generated through billing for motor vehicle accident response. A proposal to raise the Rural Fire District Tax by $0.01 per 100 would also generate $40,000 in additional revenue.

All proposals are expected to be considered further by Council.

"We know that this has to go through the budget process," Connet said.

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 121 or via email at [email protected].