Ohio Fire Dept. Test Drives New Staff Model

March 10--The first two months for the reconfigured Hamilton Fire Department have gone relatively smoothly by all accounts. But the city's top fire official says the new system for deploying fire apparatus and personnel has yet to be "significantly tested."

City Manager Joshua Smith said there have been no major issues since launching the new fire department model on Jan. 1, and overtime costs have dropped from $90,000 a month to $1,000. He acknowledged the city has had to make a few more calls for mutual aid from nearby jurisdictions for emergency medical services, but overall the new five fire apparatus and three EMS units baseline minimum "is working."

City Council and city administration decided to make changes to its fire services after a study was completed last year about how to operate the department more efficiently. The city paid more than $1 million in overtime in 2011 to keep a minimum of seven fire trucks and three EMS units in operation.

The city, as a result of budget cuts, will lay off 18 firefighters after May 5 when a federal SAFER grant used to pay some of those salaries expires. Station 27 on Shuler Avenue will also be temporarily closed, but city officials say they want to make it an EMS-only facility and house a fourth EMS unit there starting Jan. 1, 2014.

The Shuler Avenue station was taken out of service, or "browned out," on Jan. 2 when there were 10 firefighters off work due to vacation or sick leave. Two fire were also take out of service at that time -- Tower 22 housed at Station 22 on Pershing Avenue and Quint 27 housed at Station 27.

City officials are currently limiting the service of certain engines and fire apparatus based on each day's staffing levels. Such actions are often referred to as "rolling brownouts."

Fire Chief Steve Dawson said during a typical 24-hour shift, there are 28 firefighters on duty. However, the minimum number of firefighters on duty is now set at 22. On average, the department has 25 firefighters on a 24-hour duty shift, he said.

Dawson said the department staffed five fire apparatus and four EMS units in February and had all stations in operation for 12 days during the month. He said the department was down to the minimum staffing level of 22 firefighters for four or five days last month.

While no response time studies have been conducted yet under the new model, Dawson said that will probably be done after the first six months because "two months isn't long enough" to get a good sampling of data.

During the first two months of 2013, Dawson said there were 27 structure fires with 17 sustaining $5,000 or more in damages. He said a number of the structure fires were in vacant houses. He also noted the department made 10 calls for mutual aid, predominantly for EMS coverage.

During the same time period in 2012, Dawson said firefighters responded to 12 structure fires with $5,000 or more in damages and that the city had to call for mutual aid for EMS coverage on four occasions.

"This (the EMS mutual aid calls) is something we'll have to keep an eye on," he said. "I don't think we've had a significant fire incident that's significantly tested the system."

Dawson said the department has been using its on-duty paramedics to also help fight fires, and it's during those times that he's worried about providing enough EMS protection to the rest of the city. He also worries about having enough firefighters to get to a scene and put out a fire.

"Fire protection is less than what it was prior to Jan. 1," said Eric Abney, president of Hamilton's fire union, which is currently in contract negotiations with the city.

Abney said the department had to adjust some station territories that had seen more call volume and longer response times since Jan. 1.

"The biggest concern of our group is the not having the day-to-day knowledge of what's going to be available (for staffing)," he said. "The scenes are becoming less safe for firefighters."

Abney said the problem with not knowing how many firefighters will be rolling in on a fire scene is that a fire doubles in size every 30 to 45 seconds. "That creates more danger and risks firefighters," he said.

Abney said the department is expected to exceed last year's overall call volume of more than 12,500 calls, which included about 10,000 EMS calls.

"We need a fourth (EMS) squad and fire protection," he said. "That's the $1 million question in this town...Everyone recognizes the need for fourth squad."

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