ASHLAND FIRE & RESCUE

2023-2025 Biennium Budget

OVERVIEW

Ashland Fire & Rescue Divisions: AF&R is comprised of three divisions: Administration, Operations, Wildfire & Community Risk Reduction. Ashland Fire & Rescue provides fire suppression, fire prevention, emergency medical, rescue, and watershed management services to the 21,621 citizens and 6.9 square miles of Ashland. Ashland Fire & Rescue also provides advanced life support medical transportation for Jackson County Ambulance Service Area #3 making up 650 square miles from the California border to Phoenix. Ashland Fire & Rescue also provides the following services:

Administration Division provides the operational oversight of the fire department. Sets department standards and provides leadership to the professional staff that makes up AF&R. The Administration Division is responsible for planning and tracking the financial, organizational, and developmental aspects of the Department, which are essential for operational readiness. These include fleet and equipment management, facilities, personnel, budgeting, operational programs, and community relations. Through the Fire Chief, this Division provides vision and leadership to the Department and a healthy environment for employee development and morale. It is the responsibility of the Fire Chief to guide the organization and evaluate the effectiveness of the services delivered to the community.

Mission Statement:

Ashland Fire & Rescue is dedicated to protecting lives, property, and the environment. By delivering fire suppression, emergency medical, disaster management, fire prevention and public education services by professionally trained, dedicated personnel, we strive to achieve the highest quality of public service to our customers.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Completed Ambulance Transporting Services Cost and Service Analysis report.
Completed Portland State feasibility study.
Realigned Fire Department Organization.
Projected to receive a total of $23,060 in reimbursement payments from Oregon for employee and vehicle expenses related to our deployments to state conflagrations.
Received a total of $702,686 in Ground Emergency Management Transport (GEMT & GEMT CCO reimbursement).
Secured Ashland’s first full time Emergency Management Coordinator.
Continued work with the Emergency Management Advisory Council.
Switched to in-house Ambulance Membership program.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Continue working on the Oregon State GEMT program which will lead to an increase in our ambulance revenues.
Streamline Ambulance Membership Program.
Launch software to aide in community inspection and response awareness. Allows community members to input data to the fire department such as there are three dogs in the house, the power meter is located in the garage etc. Allows for real time inspection and photos to be upgraded for instant access on commercial structures.

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES FROM 2021-2023

An increase in staffing, as well as ladder aerial access, will result in direct reduction of ISO rating of a 3 to a 2, and quite possibly to an ISO 1, which would be the first in the state.
An increase in staffing will reduce the times there are no staff personnel available to respond to calls.
An increase in staff will allow for an increase in revenue from interfacility transfers, which are quite often not able to be performed due to lack of staffing.

PEFFORMANCE MEASURES

Reach a minimum of 5,000 citizens through our public education and training programs.

Secure an upgrade to our Insurances Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification Program (PPC) to a Class 2 organization.

Improve our fleet to continue moving towards meeting goals for reduced emissions standards.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

Staffing- Need to find a sustainable way to increase Fire Fighting Staffing by 6-Operational line personnel, 4 additional Single Role EMS providers, 1 Fire Marshal, and 1 Training & EMS Officer.
Obtain a 75ft Ladder/Pumper to adequately suppress fires and rescue persons above two stories.
Obtain software for ambulance membership processing.
Need to reach 2 sets of turnouts per firefighter to meet recommended 10-year replacement of sets or replacement schedule.
Need for a training center or OT funding to allow for crews to attend fire training at local fire agencies with established training grounds.
Continuing tree mortality on City and APRC lands necessitates larger action to remove dead biomass and anticipate future die-off and shifting vegetation communities. Projects can include helicopter-based tree thinning, tree planting, and increased prescribed burning. Funding for urgent work will be a challenge.
Completing wildfire mitigation/defensible space on all existing Ashland buildings that don’t currently meet code is an enormous challenge. The FEMA grant has funded 1,100 homes but there are 4,000 more plus commercial and institutional buildings that have not yet been evaluated. We need funds to assess the buildings and to cost-share mitigation beyond what is currently funded by FEMA.