Public Safety Committee Meeting

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA COMMISSION CHAMBERS 4243 REMEMBRANCE RD. NW. MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2023 5:00 PM Call Meeting to Order - Record Attendance 1. Committee Members: Mayor Carey (Chair), Thom Burke, Elaina Huizenga-Chase Discussion Items 1. Approval of Minutes 2. Fire Department Personnel Discussion Adjournment Page 1 of 6  PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MEETING MINUTES COMMISSION CHAMBERS MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2022 4:00 PM Call Meeting to Order - Record Attendance Committee Members: Mayor Carey (Chair), Thom Burke, Elaina Huizenga- Chase Staff Members: Chief Mankel, Captain Veen, Captain Heugel, Shannon Bales, Frank Wash Discussion Items Approval of Minutes from10-17-2022 Motion by Elaina A. Huizenga-Chase, seconded by Thom Burke to approve the meeting minutes from 10-17-2022. Motion Carried. The committee received a presentation from Police Chief Keith Mankel, Captain Andy Veen, and Captain Brandyn Heugel about the Police Department. The main focus of the presentation was regarding staffing and the number of calls for service the department receives. They also spoke to the commission about future capital improvements. Adjourned at 5:28 PM Public Safety Committee Meeting Minutes 12-19-22 Page 1 of 1 Page 2 of 6  WALKER FIRE DEPARTMENT Status of Staffing Our city has a 94.47% overall increase in growth since 2013 Our paid-on-call firefighter staff has decreased by 49%. The challenges to being a paid-on-call firefighter have dramatically increased. • Work and family demand increases. • State training requirements increase. • Easier opportunities for secondary income (Uber, Shipt, etc.). • Few affordable housings for young, first-time buyers in Walker. (Our target group).  56% of Paid-on-Call live outside of Walker (longer response times). 60% of our 30 paid-on-call firefighters are duty time only responders. • Work/family responsibilities only allow for scheduled time. • No warning when a member drops from active to duty only responses. • Decreased level of skills to below basic proficiency. • Become a liability at emergency scenes. Low levels of Paid-on-Call Staffing • No POC on duty two weekends a month at Station 3 (5 POC Firefighters w/2 off on medical, 1 POC Officer). • Low staff at Station 1 (7 POC Firefighters, 2 POC Officers). • Burnout of active personnel. (less participation for calls and events) Increased full-time staff by one position to supplement paid-on-call staffing in 2022. • 12-hour shifts Monday – Friday. • 22 additional calls (September-December). • Response times under 8-minutes. • Assigned duties and responsibilities. REQUEST FOR 7-DAY-A-WEEK STAFFING FOR FY 2023-2024 Request for three additional full-time staff for FY-2023-24 • Two additional firefighters for 7-days a week full-time supplemental staffing of 12-hour shifts (6a-6p) including all holidays. • One Fire Inspector for Fire Prevention/Inspections (available to respond to large daytime calls). Benefits • Cover over 67% of all calls for service. • Flexibility to meet duty time requirements of paid-on-call. • Stable mentoring program for new paid-on-call hires. • Engine company within eight minutes or less (6a-6p). • Dedicated fire prevention/firefighter to concentrate on annual fire inspections and public education. 10 Page 3 of 6  WALKER FIRE DEPARTMENT Paid-on-Call Staffing Only Historically, the fire department has operated with the expectation of paid-on-call attending most calls (over 50%). This expectation fulfilled the need for a reliable workforce responding to emergencies in a timely manner. As illustrated below, we have minimal paid-on-call staff attending alarms outside of their duty responsibilities. This chart includes full-time staff that participate as a paid-on-call firefighter including officers. Station 1 Ward 2 Station 2 Ward 3 Station 3 Ward 1 Legend Paid-on-Call that Paid-on-Call that respond Paid-on-Call that respond to over 50% of to 50% or less to all calls responds only when on all calls for their station. for their station. duty. (Less than 10%) Probationary Paid-on- Call Firefighter response varies 10-40% Full Time staffing from 6 AM to 6 PM has filled the gap of little to no paid-on-call responders between the hours of 5 AM to 6 PM. We need to expand coverage to encompass the weekends, including all holidays, to provide the response expected by our residents. 2 Page 4 of 6  WALKER FIRE DEPARTMENT Statistics Incidents by Shift and Station/District for 2022 SHIFT Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 TOTAL Full-Time 6a-6p M-F 91 97 184 372 Paid-on-Call 6p-6a M-F 37 42 54 133 Paid-on-Call Weekends 51 69 111 231 Holidays (Full-Time)* 3* 3* 4* 10* Holidays (Paid-on-Call) 5 10 8 23 TOTAL CALLS IN PRIMARY 187 221 361 DISTRICT *Full time staff covered some workweek holidays starting in November 2022. Percentage of Calls for Service between Full-Time and Paid-on-Call for 2022 Station/Ward Full-Time POC Station 1 Ward 2 51% 49% Station 2 Ward 3 45.2% 54.8% Station 3 Ward 1 52% 48% Average Response Time for First Apparatus (Time of Alarm to On Scene) POC Alarm to Scene Full Time Alarm to Scene Station Firefighters MM:SS Firefighters MM:SS Station 1 3 07:06 2* 07:28* Station 2 3 09:33 2 06:54 Station 3 2 14:27 2 08:01 1st Officer 1 06:30 1 05:12 Times for response to primary home district only. *Primary response for Station 1 is split between Station 2 and Station 3 from 6 AM to 6 PM Mon-Fri. On possible structure fire dispatches, one of the chiefs will ensure pulling the aerial from Station 1. 3 Page 5 of 6  WALKER FIRE DEPARTMENT Comparison Between POC and Combination Responses The graph below compares paid-on-call only response to a structure fire to a combination of initial full-time response supported by paid-on-call. Full-Time units in bold. 200 Westown (POC Response) 3280 Weatherford (Combined) Dispatched at: 03:42 (3:42 AM) Dispatched at: 14:37 (2:37 PM) Cumulative Cumulative Elapsed Time Elapsed Time Unit/Event on Scene Unit/Event on Scene (MM:SS) (MM:SS) Personnel Personnel WKF C04 06:00 1 WKF C2 03:00 1 WKF C31 08:00 2 WKF Eng. 3 05:00 3 WKF C21 10:00 3 ALP Eng. 1 06:00 6 WKF C01 12:00 4 Water on fire 07:00 6 WKF P1 13:00 7 WKF Eng. 2 12:00 6 WKF Eng 4 14:00 11 APF Med 1 13:00 8 WKF Eng 1 14:00 14 GR Eng. 8 17:00 9 WKF L1 14:00 16 WKF Eng. 5 17:00 12 Water on fire 14:00 16 WKF C04 18:00 13 MRN C02 17:00 17 WKF P1 20:00 14 WKF C16 18:00 18 WKF L1 26:00 18 At Weatherford, we had fewer initial personnel on scene, but fire apparatus arrived in less than half the time. The Weatherford outcome was better due to early interventions. The Orchards is another apartment fire which saw a combination of full-time and paid-on call response. Full -time responders are in bold. Initial full-time engine operations provided early intervention to slow progression of the fire. Fire out down in 45 minutes. 910 Four Mile Road NW – The Orchards (Combined) Dispatched at: 7:17 PM Easter Sunday Unit/Event Elapsed Time MM:SS Cumulative Personnel APF Eng. 1 05:00 4 Water on Fire 07:00 4 WKF C4 08:00 5 WKF Car 31 09:00 6 WKF Eng. 3 13:00 8 GR Eng. 5 14:00 11 WKF Platform 1 14:00 14 GR Eng. 8 15:00 17 WKF C1 15:00 18 WKF Eng. 1 16:00 23 APF Eng. 3 17:00 26 WKF Ladder 1 23:00 30 WKF C16 23:00 31 PLF Eng. 1 27:00 34 2nd alarm requested at 5 min. (Station2, GR Engine 5, GR Engine 8, and APF Eng. 3). 3rd alarm requested at 23 min. (GR Ladder 1, PLF Eng. 1, PLF Platform 1, and PLF Chief/Drone). The majority of calls the fire department responds to are time sensitive emergencies. Minutes count. Wasted minutes have a cost that includes damages to lives and/or property when no mitigation efforts are deployed. 4 Page 6 of 6