Fire Department Budget Presentation
March 2019
Introduction
This site provides more details as it relates to the City of Ashland Fire and Rescue Department
The chart above shows the Fire Department Overall Expenses.
Fire Department Divisions
Fire Administration (Split from Operations)
Accomplishments
- Received a total of $337,530 in payments from Oregon and California for employee and vehicle expenses related to our deployments to state conflagrations
- Awarded a Community Development Block Grant of $50,000 to develop and initiate a program aimed at keeping senior citizens and persons with disabilities safely in their home. This is a public-private partnership
- Updated Emergency Management Plan and Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan
- Conducted 3 Emergency Operations Center Exercises
- Conducting Evacuation Exercise (May 2019)
- Created the Emergency Management Advisory Council
Goals
- We are working with agencies throughout the State for the enactment of the Oregon State GEMT program which will lead to an increase in our ambulance revenues
- Researching the possibility of lease-purchase options for future high-cost apparatus acquisitions to reduce future capitalization requirements
- Funding for a proper Emergency Operations Center, support and training
Future Challenges
- Secure adequate funding from the General Fund or through grants to increase shift staffing from 10 to 11 firefighters allowing a daily minimum of 9 personnel
Coordinate with Public Works to begin the development of the site for a training facility and fund the water, drainage and paving this next biennium (structures during the 21-23 biennium)
- Reclassify the city to an ISO 2 rating
Fire Operations
Accomplishments
- Responded to 4166 calls for service
- Responded to 97% of all medical calls within established response time requirements
- Provided an engine and personnel to the Chetco Bar, Eagle Creek, Napa, Garner Complex, Klondike, Taylor Creek, Sugar Pine and Camp Fires in California and Oregon
- Received a $71,000 FEMA grant to install apparatus exhaust capture system at Fire Station #1 and a $20,000 grant from Firehouse Subs for thermal imaging cameras
Goals
- Maintain current staffing at a daily minimum of nine personnel
- Develop a dedicated training site for realistic hands-on fire training
- Accelerate apparatus replacement schedule where needed to maintain engine and ambulance operational readiness
- Purchase a quint style aerial apparatus (ladder/pumper)
Future Challenges
- Construct a training facility to accommodate modern training requirements for firefighting
- Increase staffing to provide safety per recognized standards
- Look at organizational models that provide the best possible services with available funding. This may include a merger of two or more departments.
Fire and Life Safety
Accomplishments
- We have implemented Brycer, a 3rd party inspection company to monitor fire systems at no cost to the city
We have adjusted our user fees for services to better effect a system of cost recovery
Provided public education and outreach to 5,734 children and citizens
Assisted at the state level to write and adopt a state building code for construction in the wildland urban interface.
Goals
- Create Fire Inspector position
- Continue to pursue the grant funds for commercial building safety system updates.
- Gain compliance with State Fire Code and City resolution on completion of fire inspections
- Improve fee and permit collection process
- Funding for a proper Emergency Operations Center, support and training.
- Continue public outreach for fire and life safety education, community CPR and first aid.
- Increase CERT use within department operations
Future Challenges
- There is a need for a deputy fire marshal and a fire inspector to address compliance issues.
Identify site and build an emergency operations center suitable to community needs.
Establish the city as an exempt jurisdiction. Currently there are only 7 exempt jurisdictions in the State
Adopt the state construction standard for wildland construction in the city
Wildfire Division
Accomplishments
- 5,823 acres of thinning and controlled burning was completed on federal, city, and private lands with funding primarily through state and federal grants
8 Firewise USA communities were added, bringing the total to 35. This is the most Firewise communities for any City or County nationwide
Passed the Wildfire Safety Ordinance for new construction and the Prohibited Flammable Plant List city-wide to increase wildfire preparedness
AFR Firewise Media Campaign on Facebook, Videos and Mailers
10-year update to the City forestlands 205 data plots tracks changes in conditions over time
Goals
- Secure a FEMA grant for wildfire disaster preparedness
- Complete ALL controlled burn acres scheduled for each year to reduce fuels and wildfire risk
- Continue community outreach and education on smoke, both for increasing controlled burning and during summer wildfire season
- Create a sustainable community wildfire mitigation model, including but moving beyond the current Firewise model
- Take actions and create plans to make our forests and watershed resilient to climate change
Future Challenges
- Enhance wildfire preparedness efforts around all buildings
- Increase maintenance of our already accomplished forest thinning work in and surrounding the watershed by increasing use of proactive burning on both public and private land
- Decrease the amount of illegal camping and fire starts in forested areas
- Prepare community, homes, and forests for climate change