Outgoing MI Chief Leaves Behind Stations Plan
By Ryan Stanton
Source The Ann Arbor News, Mich.
May 29 -- ANN ARBOR, MI -- Larry Collins stepped down as Ann Arbor's fire chief earlier this month, but before he left he finished work on a 134-page fire station master plan for the city.
It concludes the Ann Arbor Fire Department should replace -- and in some instances relocate as part of replacement -- all five of its existing fire stations over the next 10 to 12 years.
It also recommends reopening a sixth fire station that was shuttered in 2003 -- Station 2 near Stadium and Packard -- and staffing it to improve response times and effective response force coverage.
The plan also explores options for increased fire protection in other parts of the city.
The estimated capital replacement cost for the new stations is $16 million to $17 million, according to the plan.
Increased staffing could cost millions more.
City Administrator Howard Lazarus shared Collins' plan with the City Council last week, saying it's still a draft awaiting review, but he welcomes input on it as Mike Kennedy, the new fire chief, looks comprehensively at fire protection and response for the city.
The city acknowledges the fire department isn't meeting national standards for response times right now, and the new plan explores various options for increasing efficiency and effectiveness.
Council Member Jack Eaton, D-4th Ward, requested a copy of the plan, prompting the city administrator to share it.
It concludes Ann Arbor's fire stations are dated, inefficient to run and maintain, and not ideally situated to provide the best coverage according to national standards or local expectations.
"Some do not meet the personal living needs and work-study needs of the personnel assigned to them, nor do some adequately meet the needs of today's larger and heavier fire apparatus and equipment," the plan states. "Further, there is no specifically designed or designated facility for live fire and other practical training critical to the maintenance of personnel skills and abilities."
The new stations should have no less than three bays each and should be built to contemporary fire station standards, the plan states.
The process of preparing the new plan involved looking at fire and emergency medical response data, including travel times, call processing times by emergency dispatchers, and station turnout times by firefighters when getting into gear.
It also relied on computer modeling and mapping technology, and examined staffing levels as they relate to the ability of initial arriving fire forces to execute critical tasks efficiently and effectively -- what's known as an effective response force, or ERF coverage.
"It is not enough to get on scene quickly, there must be sufficient personnel on-board the initial arriving fire apparatus to execute, in a relatively short period of time, critical fire ground tasks necessary to bring a fire under control," the plan states.
"Ideally, this is accomplished before the fire reaches the flashover stage of combustion, which is an almost instantaneous ignition of the entire structure and its contents, and at which point survivability is almost non-existent for trapper occupants and damage to contents is effectively a total loss."
According to the plan, computer modeling demonstrates the positive impact Station 2 -- located at 1510 E. Stadium Blvd. and now used as a fire prevention bureau office and storage space -- would have on improving response time targets and ERF coverage.
Since closing Station 2 about 15 years ago, Ann Arbor has operated with five fire stations known as stations 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Station 1, built in 1977, is centrally located in downtown across from city hall on Fifth Avenue.
Station 3, built in 1963, is on the city's west side on Jackson Avenue near Veterans Memorial Park.
Station 4, built in 1966, is on the city's east side on Huron Parkway, just south of Washtenaw Avenue near County Farm Park.
Station 5, built in 1959, is on the city's north side on Beal Avenue off Plymouth Road on the University of Michigan's North Campus.
Station 6, built in 1981, is on the city's south side off Eisenhower Parkway near Briarwood Mall.
The new station master plan recommends relocating stations 4 and 6, with Station 4 proposed to move "almost directly across the street" to county parkland on Platt Road, and Station 6 from the Briarwood Mall area to the northwest corner of South Main Street and Scio Church Road on school property next to Pioneer High School.
The plan concludes the relocated Station 6 would cover a much more concentrated area in the city in a more balanced manner, citing computer modeling that suggests it's an excellent location.
Assuming the school district is willing to donate or lease the land to the city for $1 per year, the cost for a new Station 6 near Pioneer High is estimated at $2.5 million to $3 million.
As for the short move proposed for Station 4, the plan states the current building is too small and inefficient for today's needs and sits on a dangerous "blind curve." The plan concludes the city should secure county park property on Platt Road between Huron Parkway and Washtenaw Avenue and build the new station there.
"There are plans in the future for a new residential development near the area being suggested," the plan states. "Now is the time to approach the county about securing the property."
The plan concludes Station 3 on Jackson Avenue is at a good location and a new station should be built there at the current site.
It's estimated to cost $2.5 million each to replace stations 3 and 4, assuming no land acquisition costs.
The current building and land for Station 5 on North Campus is provided to the city rent-free by the university. UM also covers maintenance and utility costs, an estimated annual value of more than $70,000.
The plan anticipates the university will cover the replacement cost of the station as it is UM's stated preference to have the facility on North Campus. But the plan concludes the station should be shifted further out toward Plymouth Road for better access.
"Also, the existing station 5 could again be used for a fire department training center and classroom facility, as it was originally designed for," the plan states. "It was not designed to be a 24-hour-per-day fire station facility, but was modified to such use many years ago."
As for the downtown station, the plan concludes the Station 1 building is too big at nearly 43,000 square feet, when other stations range from 5,000 square feet to more than 21,000 square feet.
"Station 1 is very large and not economical to operate considering its current staffing -- most days there is only a 3-person Aerial Tower crew and Battalion Chief there for 24 hours," the plan states.
"A new station can be smaller in size and made more efficient to operate, but will still need to be large enough to contain support staff in addition to fire crews," the plan continues. "The current station sits on valuable downtown property which could be sold for private development purposes to help off-set the cost of a new station. It is important to note that permanently closing fire station 1 will have the same deleterious effect on response time and ERF coverage as closing fire station 2 had. Its total elimination is not recommended."
A new Station 1 is estimated to cost $5 million.
The plan also recommends building a new Station 2 at its current site near Packard and Stadium at an estimated cost of $3.5 million, saying it should be reactivated as a working fire station and city emergency operations center. Staffing it would require 18 new positions at an estimated annual cost of slightly under $2.5 million.
"While operational, this was the best-located fire station in the city. The existing station should be razed and a new modern station built on the same site," the plan states, indicating computer modeling shows it would help significantly reduce response times and increase ERF coverage in the city. "Further, it is in an ideal location to assist Station 1 with the heavy response activity near the main campus."
The plan also examines the possibility of building a Station 7 near the intersection of Dhu Varren Road and Pontiac Trail to increase fire response coverage in the northern part of the city. That would be an entirely new station for the department, but the plan stops short of recommending actually building it.
The plan concludes the most viable location at Dhu Varren and Pontiac Trail would put the station on the city's border and provide limited coverage to other parts of the city, making it an expensive and inefficient proposition.
"A better approach would be to entertain the joint staffing of a fire station and apparatus with Ann Arbor Township Fire Department. They currently have a station on Pontiac Trail that could assist in serving this area of the city," the plan states. "The joint staffing option would serve both communities well, and be much less costly than building a new fire station. The units at the joint station would be used to protect city and township properties and residents in the area by decreasing overall response times and increasing the ERF."
Under a joint staffing configuration, two additional AAFD firefighters per day, or six total, would be necessary to help staff an existing township engine company, at an estimated cost to the city of slightly more than$800,000 annually, the plan states, indicating there also might be a one-time expense to help remodel the township's station to accommodate more personnel.
Ann Arbor firefighters respond to fires, medical emergencies and hazardous materials situations.
During a three-year period from 2013 to 2015, the most recent years with complete fire data available as the study commenced, the AAFD responded to 19,707 incidents, or an average of 6,569 per year, according to the new plan.
Of those, 796 were fire-related, 11,221 were classified as medical emergencies or rescues, and the remaining 7,690 comprised all other types of incidents. One civilian was killed in a fire and 19 other civilians were injured, while property damages totaled more than $10 million.
The total city valuation of property protected in 2017 was $10.6 billion, the plan states, noting the annual cost of public fire protection for the same years was $15.8 million, with 88 AAFD personnel.
"The department protects a city of 29 square miles, with a resident population of nearly 120,000, but an estimated daily population of 250,000 when the university is [in] session, in addition to the daily population in-flow working within the city," the plan states. "Interestingly, the data reveals that over 30% of AAFD's calls for service involve UM property, students, and/or employees."
The fire department acknowledged earlier this year that city's response times don't meet National Fire Protection Association standards, with the city's combined dispatch, turnout and travel times around 12 minutes for fires when the national standard is six minutes and 20 seconds. The national standards allow 60 seconds for dispatch time, 80 seconds for turnout time (the time it takes for firefighters to get geared up and leave the station), and four minutes for the first crew's travel time, with all other crews arriving in 8 minutes.
The new plan notes there is an established travel time benchmark of a fire crew arriving within four minutes 90 percent of the time, and the AAFD met the standard 63 percent of the time in 2013, 62 percent of the time in 2014 and 61 percent of the time in 2015, "even though mapping suggests their current static locations should allow the standard to be met. Issues such as traffic congestion, street construction, etc., can also play a part in this equation."
"Notice that the alarm handling time is around 7 minutes (the standard is 1 minute)," the plan also states. "The AAFD turnout time in the station is slightly over 3 minutes (the standard is 80 seconds for fires). Department travel time is nearly 11 minutes."
The plan includes maps showing four-minute and eight-minute drive-time coverage for the five existing stations, plus if Station 2 was reopened, and if a Station 7 was built at Dhu Varren and Pontiac Trail. See the maps and other plan details in the image gallery above.
One chart in the plan illustrates a need for a minimum of 17 firefighters at the scene of a standard two-story, 2,000-square-foot house fire.
"AAFD typically has only 15-16 personnel on duty at any given time, meaning it does not meet the standard in those instances where an aerial ladder and supply pumps are engaged," the plan states.
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