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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-19-2007-1cA+~d~ f ~ ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION PAGE NUMBER INTRODUCTION 2 DEPARTMENT PROFILES 1. Caldwell 10 2. Cedar Grove 15 3. Efland 25 4. Eno 33 5. New Hope 41 6. Orange Grove 50 7. Orange Rural (Hillsborough) 56 8. White Cross 64 9. North Orange County Rescue Squad 71 10. South Orange County Rescue Squad 79 11. Orange County EMS 86 12. Orange County Fire Marshall 92 COUNTY LONG RANGE PLAN 96 COUNTYWIDE RECOMMENDATIONS g~ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 The Sage Getup, the name under which IL GRUPPO SAVIA, INC. operates its management consulting practice, copyrights this document. It has been prepared for the exclusive use of Orange County, North Carolina. Any citation, reproduction, distribution or other use of this document or its contents without the expressed written consent of The Sam G3nup and Orange County, North Carolina is prohibited under the Copyright laws of the United States, Title 17 US Code. ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY INTRODUCTION 1 This section of our report provides the background and methodology relative to 2 this study. 3 4 5 Background 6 7 Orange County, North Carolina is located in Central North Carolina in what is 8 called the Triangle Area. It is a demographically diverse county running from 9 urban characteristics with a high socio-economic population in the Chapel Hill- 10 Carrboro area to ruxal agricultural dominated areas in the northern. portion of the 11 county. It also has a growing suburban segment, particularly adjacent to the 12 Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities. 13 14 With the exception of the Town of Chapel Hill, the County has been served by 15 volunteer emergency services providers up until the 1990s. In the early part of that 16 decade, the Town of Carrboro transitioned from a volunteer fire department 17 supplemented by paid personnel to a full paid staffed department. Chapel Hill and 18 Carrboro remain the two only full paid fire departments, with volunteer 19 departments providing fire and emergency services throughout the rest of the 20 County. 21 22 The County's emergency medical service was also provided by volunteer rescue 23 squads into the 1990s. These squads added paid personnel to staff EMS apparatus 24 and then merged in an effort to provide a more efficient approach to serving. the 25 County. When it became evident that the rescue squad could not provide EMS 26 response and transport in a cost effective way, Emergency Management assumed 27 responsibility for delivering EMS paramedic response and transport and now 28 provides those functions through the Division of Emergency Medical Services. 29 Special technical rescue functions remain the responsibility of the rescue squads, 30 who dissolved the merged entity to revert back to the original structure of two 31 organizations. 32 33 The County Commission and administration recognized the disjointed nature of 34 emergency service delivery and needed an independent third party to help 35 determine: 2 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY INTRODUCTION 1 2 - How should emergency services be delivered, in particular what should the 3 organizational configuration look like? 4 - How should emergency service be funded and at what level? 5 - What organization(s) should deliver which services? 6 - What will emergency service delivery look like in the next 5-7 years and the 7 next 15 to 20 years? 8 The Commission asked that the recommendations be divided into 2 levels: short-term -those 9 that should be addressed in the next 1 to 3 years; long-term -those that should be addressed 10 over the next 5 to 15 years. 11 12 13 General Methodology 14 15 Our methodology for this project was to work closely with the stakeholders. This 16 was best achieved by visiting, meeting with, and interviewing those with specific 17 interests in the outcome of the study. Some of the activities that we undertook to 18 achieve this objective included: 19 20 - Attending a Chief's meeting at which the chief or the chief's representation 21 were present from every department: fire, rescue, and County EMS. 22 - Attending an EMS staff meeting facilitated by the County's Medical Director. 23 - Meeting with every volunteer fire department in Orange County, at their 24 station(s). Our interviews were with the chief and most often other chief 25 officers, line officers, and board members. 26 - Traveling the fire districts to understand the transportation arteries and 27 limitations/constraints. 28 - Meeting with, and interviewing the chief of Chapel Hill. Fire Department, 29 even though this department is not part of the primary focus of this study. 30 - Meeting with, and interviewing the chief of Carrboro Fire Department, even 31 though this department is not part of the primary focus of this study. 32 - Meeting with, and interviewing most of the County Commissioners. 33 - Meeting with, and interviewing the County Medical Director. 34 - Meeting with, and interviewing the EMS Shift Commanders. 3 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE S'I'UDY INTRODUCTION 1 - Meeting with, and interviewing the chief, assistant chiefs, and several other 2 officers from the Orange County Rescue Squad (North) at their station. 3 - Attending a board meeting of the Orange County Rescue Squad (North) at 4 their station and discussing issue with the board. 5 - Meeting with, and interviewing the chief, and other officers from the South 6 Orange County Rescue Squad at their station. 7 8 Our interviews and travel throughout the County spanned over 75 hours. In 9 addition, we gathered information regarding apparatus, membership, budgets, 10 finanang, district demographics, ISO ratings, call volume, response times, water 11 supply, and call nature. 12 13 14 Specific Methodology 15 16 We combined our economic and financial analysis expertise .and our strategic 17 planning expertise in working with emergency service organizations. In 18 developing recommendations, we performed an alternative analysis: impacts on the 19 county with regards to NFPA standards and guidelines, ISO grading criteria, OSHA 20 regulations, and ADA requirements. We also took into consideration State of North 21 Carolina Emergency Medical Services standards and expectations as well as the 22 County's own expectations regarding the delivery of emergency services. 23 24 25 Scope of Study 26 27 Our overall scope was to assess the current level of fire/rescue services of Orange 28 County and recommend a station location plan to meet the needs of the County and 29 its citizens giving consideration to overall costs benefits and best practices. This 30 was later expanded to include the EMS Division of the County's Emergency 31 Management organization. 32 33 In completing this engagement, we performed the following: 34 35 1. We documented Fire, Rescue, and EMS demographics withist the County 36 .including: 4 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY INTRODUCTION 1 a. Population served and population characteristics within the 2 unincorporated areas of the County; 3 b. Transportation issues such as distance, intersections, traffic lights, 4 railroad crossings, traffic patterns; 5 c. Water sources, supply, and distribution; 6 d. Historical response times for various emergency types; 7 e. Historical incidents, particularly working fires, mutual aid 8 agreements, hazardous materials incidents; 9 f. Total incident out times by incident type; 10 g. Statistical assessment of potential future incidents based on historical; 11 h. Staffing; 12 i. Apparatus; 13 2. We analyzed and evaluated planning projections for growth in the various 14 communities within the county looking to establish the future demands for 15 services as the County continues to grow. 16 3. We evaluated the location of existing and planned fire stations, EMS 17 facilities, and rescue squads with regard to effectiveness, appropriateness, 18 service demand and response capability. 19 4. We assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the current and planned 20 configuration and operations. 21 a. Multi-use stations (fire, rescue, and EMS); 22 b. Planned Stations vis-a-vis planning projections for growth; 23 c. Existing staffing for current stations (paid and volunteer); 24 d. Value of current stations and the potential costs to update, renovate, 25 or relocate those stations. 26 5. We determined and have made recommendations for the optimum number 27 of fire stations required to meet the response demands of the County for 28 emergency inadents and bring the appropriate resources to that emergency. 29 6. We assessed the level of service to be delivered by the County (response 30 times, resources, etc.). 5 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY INTRODUCTION 1 7. We evaluated the most appropriate location(s) for deploying personnel and 2 apparatus and have made recommendations to the County 3 8. We evaluated the various departments and their current human resources, 4 how those resources are deployed (within the context of apparatus, 5 residence, and station assignment), and their adequacy to meet the 6 situational demands of emergency service. 7 9. We evaluated the current status and use of apparatus. In particular we were 8 concerned with maintenance and lifespan, capital replacement schedule, 9 funding and alternative funding sources to be considered. 10 10. We evaluated those aspects of County Administration where the 11 involvement of fire and rescue departments can be of assistance to plans and 12 programs and will help in the delivery of fire and rescue services. Iri 13 particular, looked at: 14 a. Subdivision Planning; 15 b. Water lines; 16 c. Transportation arteries; 17 d. Street design (cul.-de-sacs, gated communities, etc.) 18 11. We reviewed current departments' ISO ratings. We verbally made 19 recommendations to each of the departments on how they might improve 20 their ratings. We discussed how the county might assist fire departments 21 with improvement. 22 12. We reviewed current trauzing practices and facilities, including the role of 23 area community college support. We also: 24 a. Identified countywide training facility needs; 25 b. Identified specific trawling standards such as mass casualty response 26 and standard equipment; and, 27 c. Reviewed training programs in light of how they relate to the 28 implementation of mutual aid agreements. 29 13. We performed a finanaal analysis of the costs for operating departments 30 within the framework of that which we have outlined. That analysis has 31 been translated into tax rate funding for each of the departments. 32 6 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY INTRODUCTION 1 14. We developed and have provided criteria for identifying the future need for 2 services, including the data needed to address antiapated service demands; 3 15. We evaluated the current countywide public education programs on public 4 safety and have made recommendations for adding to those programs to add 5 to the self-suffiaency of the public in disasters. 6 7 Timing 8 9 The engagement has extended beyond the expected 90 days from the date of 10 execution of the contract. This is primarily due to interview timing, requests for 11 additional interviews, expansion of information gathering relative to EMS, and the 12 difficulty in obtaining data from many of the departments. 13 14 Difficulty in obtaining the data probably related to some skepticism by the 15 departments as to the "real reason" for the study. The County clearly lacks 16 credibility in the eyes of many of the volunteer departments, including rescue 17 squads. Many continued, in spite of protestations to the contrary, to believe the 18 engagement was initiated in order to "drive the volunteers out of business". This 19 trust divide is something the County must overcame because of its implications 20 on the longer term recommendations as well as the atmosphere in which 21 emergency services is delivered. 22 23 24 Definitions 25 26 This portion is intended to ensure that all who read this report understand the 27 terminology that is used. While those involved in emergency services understand 28 the terms, not all in County Administration or those in policy roles may. 29 30 EMT -Emergency Medical Technician. This is the level between medical first 31 responder and paramedic. In Orange County, EMTs staff the County's transport 32 ambulances. They maybe paid staff or volunteers. 33 34 Gpm -Gallons per minute. 'This refers to the capaa.ty of a pumper (or tanker) 35 engine to distribute water. This is important in terms of extinguishing a fire but 36 also in terms of the measure used by ISO in rating a department. Based on the 7 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY INTRODUCTION 1 judged average fire potential, a department must be able to pump a certain gpm 2 and volume of water at a scene. 3 4 IRV -Independent Rescue Vehicle: the program used by Orange County EMS that 5 assigns a paramedic to a vehicle and dispatches one or -more of these units to a 6 medical call. The objective is for the paramedic to perform a more detailed 7 analysis/diagnosis and determine the level of transport required, or if any transport 8 is even necessary. ~ This program is unique within the State of North Carolina and 9 allows the County to operate with EMS fewer transport units and a resulting lower 10 level of EMS staffing. The program requires rigorous quality control oversight and 11 analysis. 12 13 Medical First Responder - Usually a fire department member trained in basic 14 emergency medical care and certified to conduct patient assessment, take and 15 record vital signs, gather initial impressions to provide to higher level certified EMS 16 personnel upon their arrival at the scene. First responders axe usually the first to 17 arrive at a scene and may have to provide care at their level of training for as much 18 as 20 minutes prior to the arrival of higher level certified personnel. First 19 responders are critical to the EMS system as they are closer in proximity (especially 20 in the volunteer system) to most incidents/patients and their training can enable 21 them to help stabilize a patient, saving lives. 22 23 Paramedic - .Also known as a medic. This is the highest level of certification for EMS 24 providers. Paramedics are authorized to make a diagnosis, determine the need for 25 emergency transport, and administer drugs in accordance with medical protocols 26 and physician instruction. 27 28 POV =Indicates response to an incident in one's personally owned vehicle rather 29 than in the department's apparatus. Many departments allow POV in order to get 30 personnel to the scene most effectively, with a policy that requires responding to 31 the station if it is between the member and the incident. 32 33 Pumper or Engine -Afire apparatus used -for initiai attacks on a fire. These usually 34 carry less water onboard than tankers, and are configured with attack hose lines for 35 interior fire attack on a structure fire. These are usually the first units to respond 36 and the first to arrive at a scene. 37 8 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY INTRODUCTION 1 Tanker -Afire apparatus that is used primarily to haul water for supplying 2 pumpers at a fire scene. These units are critical in districts without hydrants. When 3 a district has no hydrants, the fire department must supply the water to be used at 4 the scene. Tankers are used to shuttle water from designated water points to 5 supply the necessary volume of water to suppress the fire. 6 7 Water Points -Natural or manmade sources of water of suffia.ent size as to allow fire 8 departments to draw water from the sources for fire suppression purposes. These 9 serve districts that do not have hydrant systems. 9 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CALDWELL 1 Overview Z 3 The Little River Fire Tax District is located in the northeast corner of Orange 4 County. The Caldwell Volunteer Fire Department is the only department that 5 serves as a primary responder and provider of fire protection to the District. The 6 Department has one station approximately located in the point shown on the map 7 on the following page. 8 9 The department operates out of one station centrally located witlvn the district at 10 7020 Guess Road. The station offers immediate access to roads leading to the four 11 corners of the district. Most areas in the district are within 6 road miles from the 12 station. Areas on the very southern edge of the district can be up to eight road miles 13 from the station. 14 15 The station has been constructed in stages. It is primarily a steel arch steel clad 16 building. Facilities include rooms for public meetings, and offices that are designed 17 to serve as dorm rooms in the future. The station is well maintained and should 1 S provide a long service life. 19 20 10 ORANGE COUNTY FAZE RESCUE STUDY CALDWELL 1 2 The District is very rural in nature and is highly agricultural. The District has no 3 pressure hydrants for water supply, but has been aggressive in developing a 4 network of 14 dry hydrants and has plans to increase this number. 5 6 7 8 9 10 As can be seen, the Department borders the neighboring fire districts of Cedar 11 Grove, Orange Rural (Hillsborough), and Eno. The Department provides mutual 12 aid to each of these departments on any significant incidents, and responds under 13 the new multi-department response protocol with these departments as well. The 14 District also borders two other counties: Pearson and Durham. This means 15 providing mutual aid as requested to Hurdle l~tills and Durham County 16 departments. 11 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CALDWELL 1 Organization 2 3 Aseven-member board of directors oversees the department; a majority of board 4 members are not firefighters. The Department has enjoyed stable leadership and in 5 the last six years is currently served by only the third Chief since establishment of 6 the Department. The Department meets every Thursday evening with one 7 Thursday each month being reserved for a business meeting, the remaining 8 Thursdays are for training. 9 10 11 Demographics 12 13 The District is very rural and dominated by agriculture. The Department enjoys 14 strong community and auxiliary membership support. The Department sponsors 15 programs for the community at its station. 16 17 18 Department Membership 19 20 Membership consists of 27 adult firefighters and 2 junior (16 year olds) firefighters. 21 The Department has no paid staff providing coverage dwring the week. Typically, 5 22 to 7 personnel respond to daytime incidents and usually 13 respond to major 23 incidents. The Department has been dispatched to 235 calls in the last 37 months 24 with call volume stable across time. Of these, 25 26 - 74 incidents involved vehicles, 27 - 66 incidents involved automatic alarms or investigations, and 28 - 36 incidents involved wildland fires. 29 30 Nearly all members are First Responder certified and about aone-third are EMT 31 certified. Some members are equipped with oxygen and bag valve masks for direct 32 response to a medical call. .All have radios for communication with responding 33 medical units. This fits well into the County's IRV program. 34 35 The Department relies upon one-on-one for recruiting new members. New 36 members join usually because they know someone on the Department. 37 12 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CALDWELL 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 The map below illustrates the geographic distribution of members and their proximity to the station. Distribution is particularly important for medical first responder calls as this mini~l-li~es the amount of time required for a qualified person to arrive on the scene. ~ERSara ~ ~ tV ... ® 1. ~' ,~ r '. + '._ ~... Ji ~ ~~ t`' ~ ~~ ~ r` i - ~.~ Jul 171 , ~ ~ ~ T H ~< i U Primary Risks L t ~1 ,, There are no interstate highways and no railroads that transverse the District. State Highways 157 and 57 both go through the District and are significant transportation /I .. f! l 13 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CALDWELL 1 arteries. These pose potential vehicle accident and hazardous material incident 2 exposures. Other risks are primarily related to the agricultural nature of the 3 community: barn fires, wildland fires, farm machinery accidents, and other 4 structure fires. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Current Apparatus Type Age GPM Tank Passenger Special Equipment Capacity Capacity Pumper New 1250 1000 Gal. 1 Thermal Imager Smoke Ejector Pumper/Tanker New 1250 1500 Gal. 4 Foam Pro System Hydraulic Generator Smoke Ejector (Electric) 2500 Gal. Dro Tank Mini Pumper Old 750 500 Gal. 1 Hurst Tools EMS E ui ment Tanker 1979 450 1000 GaI. 1 Brush Truck Old 150 300 Gal. 1 Brush Fire Hand Tools Back Pack Blower With this complement of apparatus the Department has the capacity to provide 4,000 gallons of water at the scene of a structure fire, well within. the standards of rural water supply, especially given the additional water shuttle capacity with mutual aid departments. Financial Capacity of the Department Tax Rate and Revenues In FY 2005-06, the department was funded by a tax rate of $0.046 per hundred (the same as the prior year), which generates about $148,012 in revenue. 14 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CALDWELL 1 Projected capital needs 2 3 The department has about $163,000 in capital reserves and expects to use up to 4 $93,000 of this amount to fund the purchase of 800MHz radios beyond the 5 County's allocation. Irt addition to 800 MHz radios beyond the County 6 allocation, the Department needs to upgrade its brush truck. While not a 7 capital need, the Department is also preparing for the addition of paid staff 8 coverage. 9 10 11 Observations and Issues 12 13 The Department's board appears to have exercised sound fiscal principals in 14 managing the affairs of the Department as evidenced by the facility, apparatus and 15 financial position of the department especially in light of the modest tax base and 16 current fiscal position. 17 18 EMS coverage is insufficient for .the District. Most EMS units are positioned in the 19 southern end of the County. As a result, EMS responders are not familiar with the 20 District and responses are often delayed. First Responders are responsible for care 21 for a longer period of time than is usually expected. 22 23 The County has no fire training facility available for departments located in the 24 northern portion of the County. While the Chapel Hill. training facility is 25 theoretically available, it is not practical for a department to .strip its district to 26 travel to the other end of the County for trainuzg. Travel alone will significantly 27 limit use of this facility for volunteers. 28 29 The Department has no complaint about the location of the proposed Eno Fire 30 Department Station #2. However, it is unwilling to cede any of its tax district to 31 Eno. 32 33 34 Recommendations 35 36 We recommend Eno seriously reconsider the location of their proposed Station #2. 37 The proximity of this station to Caldwell's District and location at the end of its own 3 8 district is not supported strategically or tactically. 15 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Overview The Cedar Grove Fire District is located in the northern portion of Orange County. The district is served by the Cedar Grove Volunteer Fire Department. The District has a population of approximately 2,500 with assessed property value of $220,442,908. This is the largest District in Orange County at 62 square miles. As can be seen, the Department borders the neighboring fire districts of Caldwell, Orange Rural (Hillsborough), and Efland. The Department provides mutual aid to each of these departments on any significant incidents, and responds under the new multi-department response protocol with these departments as well. 16 ORANGE COUNTY ~ FIRE RES-CUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 g 9 10 11 The District also borders three other counties: Alamance, Caswell, and Pearson. This means providing mutual aid as requested to Mebane, Prospect Hill, and Hurdle Mills. The Department has two stations from which it responds to calls, the approximate location of which are shown on the map. ~~ '' ~'~ ~~ r,, r ti , r~ ~~ ie4K;', ~~. y, -+r ` ~ r ~~~Y :.....-- ~. ~r~ '~ Station #1- located on Penecost Road ~ __ _ __ 17 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE __~ T -~- _ __ - _ _ _ _ __ __ _~~. ~ - -- i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~,y g a ~' ~ ~ ..~\ ~ i ~w 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Station #2 -located on Hawkins Road. By road mileage, the two stations are approximately ~ miles apart. With the two station configuration, the Department can adequately serve its district with the Department of Insurance accepted 5 mile range. Organization The District is governed by a 7 member board of directors, the membership of which is open to all members of the community. The Chief reports to the Board. 18 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE 1 2 3 4 Demographics S The Cedar Grove District is largely agricultural and rural in nature. Very recently, 6 there have been some residents that have moved to the District to escape the hectic 7 pace of suburban or urban life and commute to their jobs. However, the District 8 remains fundamentally rural in character. This means the District has a very small 9 density, resulting from large parcels of land zoned agricultural. 10 11 The community is tight knit and residents know their neighbors as well as their 12 extended neighbors. There is a community center that hosts various community 13 events, usually well attended by members of the Cedar Grove community. 14 1S 16 Department Membership 17 18 The Department has 36 members, all of whom are categorized as "active". Their 19 members tend to stay on the Department; the average tenure is 14 years. There are 20 six members that are under 18 and would be classified as "junior" members. It is 21 not unusual for members to have "grown up" in the Department. The Chief has 22 been in the Department for 27 years and the Deputy Chief for 19. 23 19 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE 1 Ten of the members are trained and certified as medical first responders. This is 2 important as 60% of the Department's calls are medical in nature. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 The Department has 7 women who are active members. The map on the following page is .an illustration of the location of the Department's members. This distribution is helpful in understanding the staffing and response of personnel, which is very well balanced. 20 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Primary Risks There are no interstate highways and no railroads that transverse the District. However, State Highway 86 and State Highway 49 both go through the District and are significant transportation arteries. These pose potential vehicle aca.dent and hazardous material incident exposures. Other risks are primarily related to the agricultural nature of the community: barn fires, wildland fires, farm machinery accidents, and other structure fires. Current Apparatus Station 1 - 2002 International KME Pumper- - Tanker with 1,000 gallon tank; 1,250 gpm pump - 1979 Ford F700 FMC Tanker with 1,250 gallon tank with 450 gpm discharge; 2,500 gallon drop tank - .1986 Ford 350 4 wheel drive Brush Truck with 200 gpm pump Station 2 2002 International KME Pumper- Tanker with 1,000 gallon tank; 1,250 gpm pump 1979 Ford F700 FMC Tanker with 1,250 gallon tank with 450 gpm discharge; 2,500 gallon drop tank - 1979 Ford 350 4 wheel drive Brush Truck with 200 gpm pump - 1985 Chevrolet Van (First Responder Vehicle with EMS equipment, cascade air system, and extrication hand tools With this complement of apparatus the Department has the capacity to provide 4,500 gallons of water at the scene of a structure fire, well within the standards of rural water supply, especially given the additional water shuttle capacity with mutual aid departments. 21 ORANGE COUNTY EIRE RESCUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE 1 2 Financial Capacity of the Department 3 4 Cedar Grove is funded through a combination of tax revenues, fund raising and 5 donations from the community. The Deparhnent also borrows money as needed 6 for large dollar purchases such as apparatus and buildings. The Department 7 budget is based on $150,000 in annual revenues with plans to add $10,000 to its 8 reserve account, which is used for capital expenditures. 9 10 Tax Rate and Revenues 11 12 The District tax rate is $0.073. This translates into projected revenues of 13 approximately $150,000. Additionally, the Department mails 1,400 fund 14 raising solicitations that generate $10,000 annually. Each year the Department 15 receives donations but the amount is uncertain and varies. 16 17 18 Debt 19 20 The Department currently owes $265,000 for apparatus and buildings. Annual 21 loan payments are approximately $40,000. 22 23 24 Projected capital needs 25 26 The Department will need to replace apparatus in the near future. Costs will 27 be approximately $350,000. 28 29 30 Observations and Issues 31 32 The Department's two stations adequately serve its needs but in the long term (10- 33 15 years) will need renovation. The stations do not have dormitory faalities, but 34 with the exception of severe weather or natural disaster, there is no eminent need 35 for such space. New apparatus may move up the need to renovate as today's 36 apparatus is larger that the apparatus that would be replaced (1970s/1980s vintage). 22 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE 1 2 Based on call patterns and projected growth according to the County's 3 Comprehensive Plan, there should be no need for additional stations or revision of 4 current locations over the planning horizon. 5 6 The distribution of members throughout the District is balanced in terms of 7 response to both stations and POV response within. the District. The Department 8 could benefit from some additional members, but current members are said to be 9 active and it is rare that the Department does not have suffia.ent response. 10 11 The Department currently has an ISO rating of 9S. Given the number of active 12 members, available pumping capacity, and water points in the District, the 13 Department should be able to reduce this rate and save its residents in insurance 14 premiums. One critical component for this reduction is certification and 15 documentation of water supply sources. 16 17 The Department's two tankers are 27 years old. NFPA recommends replacement of 18 pumping apparatus after 24 years. Passing pump tests can extend apparatus life 19 but the new apparatus has features based on new technology and design that far 20 surpass older equipment. 21 22 Cedar Grove, as with most of the department's in the County, needs assistance with 23 administrative issues such as grant identification and writing, preparation for ISO 24 examinations, budgeting, and financing. 25 26 Daytime response coverage is becoming an issue for Cedar Grove, although the 27 Department is currently able to respond to calls during weekday "work hours" 28 albeit with a minimum number of personnel. 29 30 The Department conducts traini~.lg weekly. However, the County uses the Chapel 31 Hill Training Center for prop/scenario training. This is not a convenient situation 32 for Cedar Grove, especially if it wants to conduct departmental training. We'll 33 address this issue in our countywide recommendations as this applies to all of the 34 Northern departments. 35 23 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY CEDAR GROVE 1 Cedar Grove, as with other departments, conducts "live burn training" when 2 structures are available for demolition by burning. However, current regulations 3 require an asbestos inspection that can cost in excess of $300.00. This is a limiting 4 factor, as Orange County apparently does not have a licensed asbestos inspector. 5 6 Cedar Grove currently has 2 base station radios, 7 mobile unit radios, and 22 7 portable radios. With the County's migration to 800 MHz., Cedar Grove has been 8 allotted 3 portable radios. This is clearly insufficient and Cedar Grove is hardly in a 9 financial position to be able to afford the additional radios necessary for it to be on 10 the current communications level. The Department has submitted a Fire Act Grant 11 application to supplement the County allocation. However, there has been a 12 significant cutback Fire Act Grant funding and competition for the award of these grants 13 will be fierce. 14 15 16 Recommendations 17 18 We recommend that the Department begin the process of planning what is 19 desirable in its renovated stations. 'This should include additional apparatus bay 20 area as well as dormitory space, office space and meeting space for training and 21 general department meetings. 22 23 We recommend that the Department certify and document its water sources in 24 preparation for its ISO rating exam. (This is also a countywide recommendation: all 25 departments need to formalize their water supply if they are to improve ISO 26 ratings.) 27 28 We recommend that the District increase its tax rate from $0.73 to $0.78. This 29 should generate another $10,500. This amount could be put toward covering 30 weekday daytime hours. 31 32 We recommend that the department identify and formally document volunteers available for 33 weekday daytime response. Following this process, the Department should hire 2 part-time 34 personnel to cover those periods when volunteers are not available. 24 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY EFLAND 1 Overview 2 3 The Efland Fire District is located in the northern portion of Orange County. The district is 4 served by the Efland Volunteer Fire Department. The District has an assessed properly 5 value of approximately $642,973;000. 6 7 ,~= , ~~ ~ 55 F f "~ :i ~~~ ~~f ~~ '~~ ---- •,~~ ~ _ ~~ '-.. ~~~ _5 ~~ _ -_- -~- _,~`' - ~: ~'. 4 - ~~r"- i s ~ ~4- ~~r ~~~~~ ~: ~ ~_~ ~ ~ ~_ ~~ ~ ~ -- _ r,w~sia-~ ~ ~~s r „ ~ T r 8 ~, 9 25 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY EFLAND 1 As can be seen, the Department borders the neighboring fire districts of Cedar 2 Grove, Orange Rural (Hillsborough), and Orange Grove. The Department provides 3 mutual aid to each of these departments on any significant incidents, and responds 4 under the new multi-department response protocol with these departments as well. 5 6 The District also borders Alamance County and the Town of Mebane. This means ~ providing mutual aid as requested to Mebane, both in the city limits and within the 8 East Alamance Fire District that falls within Orange County. The District is unique 9 in that the Town of Mebane, primarily an Alamance County town, extends into 10 Orange County. Its fire department also is responsible as the primary responder to 11 incidents in this portion of the Town. 12 13 14 15 The Department has one station from which it responds to calls, the approximate 16 location of which is shown on the map above. The station is located on State 17 Highway 70 west of Efland-Cedar Grove Church Road. The Department can 18 adequately serve its district with the Department of Insurance accepted 5 mile 19 range from its centrally located station. 26 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY EFLAND 1 Organization 2 3 The District is governed by a 6 member board of directors. Directors serve until 4 their successors are appointed by the remaining directors. The President, Vice- s President, Secretary, Treasurer and the Fire Chief serve as the Executive Committee. 6 The Committee has the full authority to .act for the board between meetings of the 7 board. The Chief reports and is accountable to the Board. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Demographics The Efland District is primarily agricultural and rural in nature. The population is over 3,000. There are some commercial properties in the District. The community is tight knit and most residents know their neighbors as well as their extended neighbors. Depaafiment Membership 22 The Department has 38 members, all of whom are categorized as "active". Their 23 members tend to stay on the Department; the average tenure is 10.13 years. There 24 are four members that are under 18 and would be classified as "junior" members. 27 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY EFLAND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Chief has been in the Department for 18 years, the Assistant Chiefs for 20 and 14 and the Safety Officer for 22. The maps below illustrate the location of the Department's members. The first map shows member locations north of Highway 70. The second map shows the location of members south of Highway 70. This distribution is helpful in understanding the staffing and response of personnel. } J a- t~ rho '~7 ~J a r rI -~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ titi ~ cJ ~ i i g~= ~ .~, ; Il (~ ~~ l ~U ~I~ pia ~ Kec~^a~J~~~~~ n ~~ ~ ~ ~ U () \ 6 / \ C ~, ~ ~ t~ i ~ ~ '1 1 ~; 1 Ill (~ ~~ -~ ~ `~ ~~ ~' i r ,1 ~- ~ .~ ~ ~, L ~ ~ i ~ 1 ~ ., a ~ ;, .1~ • „" f~ ~it Perry WOs ~ ~ ~ ~~ F~ r - ~ l ~~ ~ ~ ~ bb e:, i i _~,~~--_ I a ~ ~.Rv i ~ ~'' ~~~' ~ -_,_ Recresliorr~. 7 70 ~ F fR ~ ~/ ~ ~~. f ' ,~- . Oat0~ - ~~ Indush~4 i~~s~__~~_ _~--~ ~ 1~ end Park - ~ ` -.~~r.. i57` ,_ =~ Dept ~~! •i' ~ ..~~.. alim°r $t' ~ ~ ~.. Co~ M02(N4ASciosoftGo ~lorrtssu fers-Nl,nhtsm„tires.. ~ ~""-~`.;~ 1B I !pn.~,,,.._ .~ I ~ ~_ 28 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY EFLAND 1 2 3 4 5 Primary Risks 6 Efland is in close proximity to Interstate 85/40, State Highway 70, and has a rail line 7 that transverses the District. These are significant transportation arteries and pose 8 potential vehicle accident and hazardous material incident exposures. Other risks 9 include some of the commercial operations in the District as well as those related to 10 the agricultural nature of the community: barn fires, wildland fires, farm machinery 11 accidents, and other structure fires. 12 29 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY EFLAND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Current Apparatus Type Year Pump Ca acity Tank Ca acity En ' e 1988 1,000 gpm 1,000 Gallons En ' e 2001 1,250 gpm 1,000 Gallons Tanker 1990 750 gpm 500 Gallons Tanker 2004 450 gpm 3,000 Gallons Brush Truck 2000 150 gpm 300 Gallons With this complement of apparatus the Department has the capacity to provide 3,500 gallons of water at the scene of a structure fire, within the standards of rural water supply, especially given the additional water shuttle capacity with mutual aid departments. Financial Capacity of the Department 11 Efland is funded through a combination of tax revenues, interest on earnings and 12 some minimal donations from the community. The Department also borrows 13 money as needed for large dollar purchases such as apparatus and buildings. The 14 Department budget is based on approximately $178,000 in annual tax revenues. 15 16 Tax Rate and Revenues 17 18 The District tax rate is $0.03475. This translates into projected revenues of 19 approximately $223,433. Each year the Department receives some donations 20 but the amount is usually minimal. 21 22 23 Debt 24 25 The Department currently owes $228,400 for apparatus and buildings. Annual 26 loan payments are approximately $27,000. 27 30 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY EFLAND 1 2 Projected capital needs 3 4 The Department will need to replace apparatus in the near future. Costs will 5 be approximately $350,000. 6 7 8 Observations and Issues 9 10 Efland is unique among the Orange County volunteer departments in that a portion 11 of what should be its fire response and tax district is in the Town of Mebane. 12 Response to this area is made under mutual aid agreement but revenues go to 13 Mebane. 14 15 Efland undertook significant efforts to lower its fire insurance rating from 9S to 7. 16 This is commendable. 17 18 With some additional attention to training and training record keeping, recruitment 19 of additional members, the addition of paid staff for daytime coverage, and 20 retention of at least one of the Department's older pumpers when replaced, Efland 21 could easily achieve a rating of 6, which is the most cast effective rating for a 22 department serving a community like Efland (primarily residential/agricultural). 23 Improvement in water supply would also be very helpful, as is the case with all of 24 the non-municipal departments. 25 26 27 Recommendations 28 29 We recommend that the Efland Tax District increase its tax rate from the current 30 $0.03457 to $0.04975. This would result in approximately $96,000 and allow the 31 Department to more easily fund paid staffing. It would also serve as reserve for 32 future capital purchases, including the purchase of addition 800 MHz radios. 33 34 We recommend the Department develop and implement a recruiting program for 35 volunteers to increase the level of membership. 36 37 31 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY EFLAND 1 We recommend the Department increase its use of Chapel Hill Fire-Rescue training 2 facilities and document this use to aid in its future ISO rating survey. Even a 3 quarterly exercise will make a clifference. The Department also needs to ensure that 4 training is conducted at least quarterly with each mutual aid department, especially 5 in conducting water shuttle operations. This is also a significant factor in ISO rating 6 points. 7 8 9 32 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ENO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 g 9 10 11 12 13 Overview 'The Eno Fire Tax District is located in the middle portion of the eastern region of Orange County and a portion of the western region of Durham County. The Eno Volunteer Fire Department serves the District. The District has an assessed property value of approximately $561,296,000.00 ~_ ~.` ~, f iN7i As can be seen, the Department borders the neighboring fire districts of New Hope, Orange Rural (Hillsborough), and Caldwell. The Department provides mutual aid to each of these departments on any significant incidents, and responds under the new multi-department response protocol with these departments as well. 33 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ENO 6 The Eno Fire Department operates out of a 4-bay, two-story station located near the 7 intersections of US70 and I-85 and was erected in 1962, the approximate location of 8 which is shown on the map above. 9 10 11 12 Organization 13 14 Aboard oversees the Department. The Department is commanded by three chief 15 officers (Chief, Deputy and Assistant); five Captains (one coordinates their EMS 16 activity); and two lieutenants. 17 34 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ENO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Demographics The northern portion of the District is generally rural in nature and includes the Eno River State Park. The southern portion tends to be more suburban in nature. Department Membership 9 10 Membership consists of 26 volunteer firefighters and 6 career firefighters. The six 11 career and two volunteers provide daytime staffing, which consists of two 12 firefighters Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM. (The two volunteers work 13 a schedule that is limited to 32 hours per month.) 35 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ENO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 The station is also staffed on Saturday and Sunday during the vacation months of June to September. Typically, 8 to 10 personnel respond to daytime incidents and usually 12 to 16 respond to structure fires. Every member is reported to have responded to at least 25% of the calls. The Department states that a large percentage of their members are Firefighter II certified. The Department does not permit response to the scene in personal vehicles, which is different from most of the other departments. The Department responds as medical first responders, also from the station. The map below illustrates the residence of members in relationship to the station. Relative to the new proposed station, there are no current members in proximity to the station. R. ~'l J`, ~ ~ 1 - ~ ~ ~ ( j a 5,, ~ ,~ l ~. , ~80i ~) ~1 _ `4~ +1 . ~ ~ ~Rd J . . X70 ~~~~ ~ ._ [no 16vrr ~l ~~ l\ -~ ~'~ State Pork , 1J \~/~~ } Or noo Rural FD 5`at7cn 1 1 ~ ®' ,~" , ~ .~ pL ~'~~1 } ~ yuus ~\P\ R N G L N O ft T H ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ '. r ~ \ ~`laj~J >,.-.,~ C. A. -1 14 \~~ .~~ D U Filii A M ~ - J \ 4 ~.\ . _- ~ -' - 1h \ 111 [/{ ~ ~~ ~ i ~ Eno FD , . , \ t ~I +.~ Hucklcbhr?y\ _ N t --., t '~= c SprlnpV ~ C_1p~'ei ~~ U / -'~ K~~ -~;`~ Durham "~. ~; r pp Ra $ ,. 1.2s rN V~ y`. 1 The Amencon ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ N^wF eFD ~Ra;ion2 L~J ~ Ulllape f -i47 ~~~ ~ ~/ ~ z ~ J~ x'~ ~( '~~ i/~ k ~rl' (J/DiEee Laver y -: ~~..~ ~` ~~, I 1 c~~~~raowoain~soac .andr~ns.u i~rsn,atlr,eseNed. ~ ~ The Department has been dispatched to 82$ calls in the last 37 months. Call volume seems to be stable. 36 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ENO 1 - 198 incidents involved vehicles 2 - 326 incidents involved automatic alarms or investigations 3 - 75 incidents involved wildland fixes 4 5 6 Primary Risks 7 8 Approximately six miles of heavily traveled Interstate 85 passes through the center 9 of the District and introduces all the associated hazards that come with serving an 10 Interstate highway. The Department has one interchange for I-85 highway access 11 within the District. The District has minimal water resources for fire fighting. As 12 with most of the other departments, all water must be carried to the scene of an 13 incident. At this time, the Department has no plan for developing static water 14 sources and hydrants are not an available option. 15 16 17 18 19 Current Apparatus Type Age GPM Tank Ca acity Passenger Ca aci Pumper/Tanker 2001 1250 1000 Gal. 5 Pum er/Tanker 2001 1250 1000 Gal. 5 Pum er/Tanker 1996 1250 1250 Gal. 5 Brush Truck 1992 250 250 Gal. 1 SW 1999 20 21 At a water volume capacity of 3,250, the Department is at the Iower end of 22 acceptable for volume needed at a structure fire according to most industry 23 standards, This has an impact on the ISO rating that they can attain. 24 25 26 37 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ENO 1 Financial Capacity of the Department 2 3 Tax Rate and Revenues 4 5 In FY 2005-06, the Department was funded by a tax rate of $0.057 per hundred 6 (the same as the prior year), which generates about $313,000 in tax revenue. 7 In addition, the Department receives approximately $16,000 from Durham 8 County. 9 10 Debt 11 12 The Department is indebted for the two Pumper/Tankers purchased in 2001. 13 The debt is being retired at the rate of $46,103.04 annually and will be fully 14 paid on May 19, 2010. 15 16 Projected capital needs 17 18 The Department has been setting aside a portion of the tax funding for capital 19 reserve accumulation to fund construction of a second station and 800 MHz 20 radios as necessary. 21 22 The funds for the proposed Station 2 as of June 30, 2005 represented the largest 23 share and totaled $159,540.82. Total reserves on that date were $198,149.27. 24 The Department will incur substantially more debt than its reserves. 25 26 27 Observations and Issues 28 29 Although the current station is ideally located within the District, the physical plant 30 is inadequate for current needs and should be replaced soon. It has a wood frame 31 upstairs with no dormitory accommodations feasible. The pumper/tankers are very 32 cramped in the station and compromise training opportunities and safety. The 33 property offers ample room for future replacement and expansion. However, the 34 Department's access to a public road is over a long narrow drive that also crosses 35 private property. 36 38 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ENO ~' ~ - ---, ~ ; ~, t ~_:~~ - ,. _ ,. 3 .~ ` ~ ,; r u ~~" }I~ ~f ~~ # >^ ~~ ~~~, ~; 4' '4i + _ .~ , j ~ Li - ~ ' ' tea.... ~~t ~ y~ ~~ 1 D ~ ` t ;7~ 1 ~~ <<~ ~~ 'a ~i, ~t~~J L ~ - _ - 1 ' _ J, 7~ ~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~" 1 4 L ______~ _.._.___~_~,..____.____..~_..~_,_ _ 4 ~__ _ _..:~ 5 6 The Department also owns land at the northern edge of the fire District and plans to 7 erect a station at this location in the near future. 8 9 The Department relies upon one-on-one for recruiting new members. New 10 members are usually identified through word of mouth. 11 12 The Department has a positive view of the move to 800 MHz (due to working 13 relationship with Durham County departments). They have submitted a grant 14 request to fund radio purchase, but have not heard of its disposition. They do 39 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ENO 1 perceive a lack of coordination in the Orange County's efforts to transition to 800 2 MHz. 3 4 The Department wishes it had a few more certified instructors for in-house training. 5 6 At this time, the Departmment has no plan for developing static water sources. 7 8 9 Recommendations 10 11 Given the good location of the current station, the Department should begin 12 planning for the replacement or substantial renovation of the current station. 13 14 Construction of a station on the northern. property should not be considered before 15 the existing station is replaced. There are no volunteers residing near the vacant 16 property. It also should be noted that a station in the proposed location would 17 benefit the residents in the southern portion of the Little River Fire District, which is 18 in Caldwell's response area, but beyond six miles from Caldwell's station on Guess 19 Road. A deasion by Caldwell to erect a second station to enhance its District 20 coverage would render the tactical positioning of Eno's proposed station very 21 ineffective. 22 23 The Department needs to develop a recruitment program that will allow it to add to 24. its volunteer members. 25 26 The Department should identify members who show an inclination for training and 27 develop a plan for them to become certified instructors. 40 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 1 Overview 2 3 The New Hope Fire District is located in the eastern. portion of Orange County. The 4 New Hope Volunteer Fire Department serves the District. The District has assessed 5 property value of approximately $550,000,000. 6 --~ `'~r l~ ~ . ` (~A1.DWE1~ .jam` _,}~ ~5 jy __ ~~ y EFLNiD `~~~~ v: :r ILLS GH -,-~.. ~"` -~, r ~ 4 - ~. _~-~ ,1 ~~ rr ~~ ~_~ ~ ~ ~i,~i~r n~fl~- YH<~1h~~f_. 4'aRUVG ~ C1~4„ti, ~ I. .. r ,Lti `'~~~ i~'..~ I fin, ~ ~ ~ ;,~ ~1 ~ : ~~~ /J 1 ~~T s` } J, t 5~ ~~ l` tti j `~~ ~ ~ i~~j ~, ~ r i,taF l ~!H~1 i_ ~ ~; '. V1t117~] t~2OS ; ,[',~Lt~Hf7f2Ah[~~~~ ~ ' ~~..~.: ,`~ ~ ri`{ 1 t~,~'~?f`t"}!T3~J~ C I ~P~P EL -'E~li r' .~` ~ . ~ .-7' 45 9 10 41 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 1 As can be seen, the Department borders the neighboring fire districts of Eno, 2 Orange Rural (Hillsborough), Orange Grove, and the Towns of Chapel Hill and 3 Carrboro. The Department provides mutual aid to each of these departments on 4 any significant incidents, and responds under the new multi-department response 5 protocol with these departments as well. The District also borders Durham County 6 and in fact has a Fire Tax District and protection responsibilities for that district as 7 well. This means providing mutual aid as requested to the City of Durham and 8 Durham County departments. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 The Department perceives good working relationships with its neighboring departments. The Department has two stations from which it responds to calls, the approximate location of which are shown on the map. y~_. ~~ _ Station #1 is located on Whitfield Road 42 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 1 2 3 4 S Station #2 is located on North Carolina Highway 86 South (south of New Hope Church Road). 6 By road mileage, the two stations are approximately 4.5 miles apart. With the two 7 station configuration, the Department can adequately serve its district within the 8 Department of Insurance accepted 5 mile range. 9 10 11 Organization 12 13 The District is governed by a 9 member board of directors. Board members are 14 elected by the members of the Department for a term of three years, staggered over 15 three years. Board elects a Chair who is the official signatory for the District and 16 the Department on all business matters. The Chief reports to the Board. T'he 17 organization chart below illustrates the chain of command. 43 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 1 2 3 4 5 Demographics 6 The New Hope District is classified as rural residential. Residents enjoy larger than 7 normal lots, often in wooded environment. There are an increasing number of high 8 end subdivisions that have been developed in recent years. There are some 9 commercial structures but the district is predominantly residential. 10 11 The District has a fairly high socio-economic population and though smaller in size 12 than many of the other fire districts, has a moderately high tax assessment value to 13 protect due to a relatively higher level of density. 14 15 16 17 44 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 1 Department Membership 2 3 The Department typically has 50 to 60 members on its roster, not all of whom are 4 categorized as "active". Approximately 50% are active and can be relied upon to 5 respond to calls. There is a perception that it is difficult to find volunteers. As such 6 the Department has done a good job of attracting students as members, of which 7 there are currently 11. 8 9 The Department responds as medical first responders. 10 11 The map below provides an illustration of the Location of the Department's 12 members. This distribution is helpful in understanding the staffing and response of 13 personnel. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Primary Risks 30 31 The District is in close proximity to Interstate 40. State Highway 86 also goes 32 through the District. There is also a rail line that goes through the District although 33 there are several viaducts allowing apparatus to travel even when trains are on the 34 tracks. These all pose potential vehicle accident and hazardous material incident 35 exposures. Other risks within the District are a number of schools (public and 36 private) woods fires, and residential structure fires. A significant factor in 45 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 1 addressing the fire related risks is the lack of a hydrant system requiring the shuttle 2 of water. 3 4 5 6 Current Apparatus 7 Station 1 - 2005 Ferrara Intruder 2 Pumper- Tanker with 1,000 gallon tank and 1,500 gpm pump - 1998 American LaFrance Eagle Pumper-Tanker with 1,000 gallon tank and 1,500 gpm pump - 1990 E-One Pumper-Tanker with 1,000 gallon tank and 1,250 gpm PAP - 1997 E-One Superduty Brush Truck with 200 gallon tank and 150 gpm pump - 2001 Ford F-150XL Pickup used as Utility and First Responder Vehicle Station 2 - 1990 E-One Pumper-Tanker with 1,000 gallon tank and 1,250 gpm PAP - 1999 3D FL70 Freightliner used as Utility Vehicle - 2000 Ford Expedition XLT Used as Utility and First Responder Vehicle 8 9 With this complement of apparatus from both stations, the Department has 4,000 10 gallons of water capacity for structure fires, well within the standards of rural water 11 supply, especially given the additional water shuttle capacity with mutual aid 12 deparhnents. 13 14 15 Financial Capacity of the Department 16 17 New Hope is funded through a combination of tax revenues, fund raising and donations 18 from the community. The Department also borrows .money as needed for large dollar 19 purchases such as apparatus and buildings. The Department budget is based on $317,619 in 20 annual tax revenues. 46 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 2 Tax Rate and Revenues 3 4 The District tax rate is $0.0625. This translates into projected revenues of 5 approximately $318,000. The Department also receives approximately $100,000 from 6 Durham County. 7 8 Debt 9 10 The Department owes approximately $440,000. The loans represented by this debt are 11 for building construction and improvement and apparatus acquisition. Quarterly debt 12 reduction payments are approximately $20,500. 13 14 15 Projected capital needs 16 17 The Department's capital needs over the coming years, in the next couple of years in 18 particular, relate to the need to renovate Station #2. The Department also plans to 19 replace apparatus in the five to seven year time frame. No estimate of costs was 20 provided but we estimate approximately $1,300,000. 21 22 23 Observations and Issues 24 25 New Hope is in the unusual position of having an increase in call volume while a decrease in 26 its tax district. New Hope has had portions of its District annexed by both Chapel Hill and 27 Carrboro, and there is no reason to expect that will not continue. This year alone, the 28 District will loose $80,000 in tax revenues. The Department does have a contract with 29 Carrboro to cover the area annexed but that may end in five years. Eventually this will 30 erode the response area, reduce the number of calls and affect membership morale and level 31 of participation. 32 33 The Department's two stations adequately serve its needs but Station #2 need's renovation. 34 It does not have dormitory facilities, and the office space, exercise area and apparatus bay 35 are in serious need of expansion and renovation. 36 37 The Department currently has an ISO rating of 9S. Given the number of members, available 38 pumping capacity, and water points in the District, the Department should be able to reduce 39 this rate and save its residents in insurance premiums. One critical component for this 40 reduction is certification and documentation of water supply sources. Another is the ability 41 to ensure sufficient resources respond to week daytime calls. 42 47 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 1 New Hope, as with most of the department's in the County, needs assistance with 2 administrative issues such as grant identification and writing, preparation fox ISO 3 examinations, budgeting, and financing. 4 5 New Hope currently funds paid staff. Two and sometimes 3 personnel are on duty from 6 8:00 AM unti16:00 PM and one paid staff on duty from 6:00 PM unti18:00 AM. This helps 7 with response as New Hope has members who work outside the District making daytime 8 response coverage an issue. 9 10 New Hope currently has 2 base station radios, 10 mobile unit radios, and more than 10 11 portable radios. With the County's migration to 800 MHz., New Hope has been allotted 3 12 portable radios. This is clearly insufficient and even New Hope, a Department reasonably 13 financially sound, is not in a financial position to be able to afford the additional radios 14 necessary for it to be on the current communications level. 15 16 17 Recommendations 18 19 We recommend that New Hope enter into discussions with Carrboro about a long term 20 agreement to provide service to the newly annexed area. This can benefit the taxpayers of 21 Carrboro by reducing the need for a new station and apparatus (capital expense) and hiring 22 personnel to staff the new station (operating expense). Given the size of the Carrboro 23 Department, New Hope would be necessary for mutual aid support. In any case it is in 24 Carrboro's interest to retain a New Hope capability. The cost to Carrboro will be 25 substantially less than what would be involved with a new station. Providing funds for 26 staffing an engine company with supplement by volunteers is a very cost effective approach 27 to serving the public. 28 29 We recommend that the Department certify and document its water sources in preparation 30 for its ISO rating exam. 31 32 We recommend that the District increase its tax rate from $0.625 to $0.675. This should 33 generate another $27,500. 34 35 We recommend that the department identify and formally document volunteers available for 36 weekday daytime response. In addition, the Department should document and formalize its 37 student member program, including identifying funding to support the program and provide 38 stipends to the students. 48 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE FESCUE STUDY NEW HOPE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 The Department should develop a recruitment and retention program. The Department needs to recognize that more of its members will come from "white collar" professionals rather than the traditional volunteer who works in the community in farming or a trade. The recruitment program should reflect this. New Hope is perceived by many of its members as a department where training and learning are valued. A retention program should build upon this and expand the opportunities for rewarding volunteers for their achievements. One approach is to increase the number of company officers in the Department (Captain and Lieutenant). Allowing volunteers to work toward a goal of achievement without having to displace others who have the same accomplishment is an excellent retention tool and motivator for active participation. From a personnel perspective and a human resource perspective, there is no such thing as too many company officers: someone will always drive and someone will always want to fight fire. This approach also allows for a more structured approach to leadership development and succession planning for the future of the Department. 49 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE GROVE 1 Overview 2 . 3 The Orange Grove Fire Tax District is located in the middle section of the westexn 4 region of Orange County. The Orange Grove Fire Department serves the District. 5 The District is very rural in nature. The District has an assessed property value of 6 $659,309,000.00. 7 ~~~~ 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 As can be seen, the Department borders the neighboring fire districts of White Cross, Efland, New Hope, Orange Rural (Hillsborough), and Carrboro. The Department provides mutual aid to each of these departments on any significant incidents, and responds under the new multi-department response protocol with these departments as well. The District also borders Alamance County. 'This means providing mutual aid as requested to Mebane. 50 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE GROVE __ _ __ F-=~= E ----~ ~ ~___~~__ ' _ ~~--- ~ ~: b. ~~~ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 The department operates out of one station centrally located within the district at 6800 Orange Grove Road. The station offers immediate access to roads leading to the corners of the district. Most areas in the district are within 6 road miles from the station. However, there are some areas that approach 9 miles from the station. Stations of some neighboring departments in some cases are closer to areas in the response district than the Orange Grove station. The station has been constructed in stages. It offers clean and modern accommodation for the department including dormitory space for overnight coverage. Facilities include a room for public meetings. The station is well maintained and should provide for a long service life. Organization The District is governed by a 10 member board of directors. The Chief, who has served the department in that capacity for 22 years, reports to the Board. The department is commanded by an officer corps of four chief officers, five Captains, and four Lieutenants. The department meets every first and third Monday for training and business meetings. 51 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE GROVE 1 2 Demographics 3 4 The district is very rural in nature. However, there is some increase in 5 development from commuter oriented residents seeking to escape the hectic pace of 6 more urbanized areas. Some of the district will remain undeveloped because 7 OWASA has been acquiring land for watershed preservation, which will keep some 8 of the district from being developed when large farming operations are abandoned. 9 The district has no pressure hydrants and there is no active plan to develop water 10 sources. The district does have farm ponds that can provide water for fire 11 protection and could serve to improve their insurance rating if documented 12 properly. OWASA has a large main that runs along North Carolina Highway 54 13 that could provide hydrants, if installed. 14 15 16 Department Membership 17 18 Membership consists of 31 volunteer firefighters. representing agood cross section 19 of the community and includes some women (one woman is a Captain). Ten 20 members have over twenty years of service to the Department. The Department 21 also has two full time career firefighters who provide staggered coverage during 22 the week from 0600 to 1800 hours Monday through Friday. The Department also 23 employs the Chief on a part time basis. The Department membership is somewhat 24 limited by the Department's ability to financially afford the outfitting of personnel 25 with the necessary equipment for safe participation. 26 27 The Department has been dispatched to 417 fire calls in the last 37 months. Call 28 volume seems to climbing at the rate of 10% per year as the District is converting 29 from rural agriculture to more suburban in certain areas. 30 31 The map below provides an illustration of the location of the Department's 32 members. This distribution is helpful in understanding the staffing and response of 33 personnel. 34 52 ORANGE COUNTY SIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE GROVE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 _ ~ ~ :; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ` ~ ~ ~a ;: ~ , ~ ~ 4'' ~~ o rl_ ~rri fl ' _ ~ ~- ~ (f-v ~" . ~ ~ ALAh~ANCE ~ ~ ~N D ft T H - ~ t >~ _ '~ _' !, k~ _r. ~ ~ ~ ~, \ O R A tJ G E \ \ ~ ~ Y 1 © ~ a~ ., ~~' ~ 44 _ l ,~i Clia(td ~" ~.~r~ ~ ~ awl 4 '-. ~ ~~~ pIIW4 MK C'a sbbr is iWf41 gnOns Lc ___. -__~.....~ Primary Risks There are no interstate highways and no railroads that transverse the District. State Highway 54 runs the length of the District's southern boundary with White Cross. This poses potential vehicle accident and hazardous material incident exposures. Other risks are primarily related to the agricultural nature of the community: barn fires, wildland fires, farm machinery accidents, and other structure fires. Current Apparatus Tvpe Aye GPM Tank Ca aci Passenger Ca aci Pumper 2004 1,250 1,000 Gal. 5 Pumper 2001 750 500 Gal. 5 Tanker 1988 1,000 1,000 Gal. 1 Tanker 1983 1,000 1,200 Gal. 1 Brush Truck 2003 150 300 Gal. 1 14 15 53 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE GROVE 1 With this complement of apparatus, the Department has 3,700 gallons of water 2 capacity for structure fires, within the standards of rural water supply, especially 3 given the additional water shuttle capacity with mutual aid departments. 4 5 6 Financial Capacity of the Department 7 8 Tax Rate and Revenues 9 10 In FY 2005-06, the Department was funded by a tax rate of $0.034 per hundred 11 (the same as the prior year), which generates about $190,000 in revenue. Cash 12 assets at the end of March 2006 totaled over $43,000. 13 14 Debt 15 16 'The Department has a debt of about $200,000 and can retire the debt in 17 approximately five years ($41,000 was budgeted for FY 2005-06.) 18 19 20 Projected capital needs 21 22 The Department has applied for a grant for the 800 MHz radio system. It 23 needs substantially more 800MHz radios than has been allocated by the 24 County. 25 26 The Department plans to replace the 1983 tanker in FY 2008-09. 27 28 29 30 Issues 31 32 The Department does not have the tax base to afford the 800 MHz radios when 33 implemented. 'They will need assistance. 34 35 A challenge for Orange Grove is that new residents may be expecting urban 36 services in a rural community. 37 54 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE GROVE 1 The department has had a history of difficulty in receiving calls and communicating 2 with the county. Radio and pager reception is poor and coverage is spotty. 3 4 The Department is disappointed by the lack of good leadership from the county. 5 6 7 The Department has a board that appears to have exerased sound fiscal principles 8 in managing the affairs of the Department as evidenced by the facility, apparatus 9 and financial position of the Department given the modest tax base and current 10 fiscal position. 11 12 The Department relies upon one-on-one for recruiting new members. New 13 members are usually because somebody knows somebody. 14 15 16 Recommendations 17 18 OWASA should be encouraged to support the installation of pressure hydrants at 19 major intersections approximately every nvle along NC HWY 54. These hydrants 20 would serve equally serve the White Cross and Orange Grove fire departments 21 since NC fiVVY 54 serves for the most part as the primary boundary between the 22 two response districts. 23 24 We recommend the Department develop a recruitment and retention plan to ensure 25 sufficient volunteers are available to serve the community. 26 55 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE RURAL 1 Overview 2 3 The Orange Rural Fire District is located in the southwestern portion of Orange 4 County. The District is served by the Orange Rural Volunteer Fire Department, 5 sometimes referred to as the Hillsborough Fire Department. The District has an 6 assessed property value of approximately $946,502,000 and covers approximately 7 64 square miles in central Orange County. 8 9 10 11 ~~~ ~ p' t~a_~+,v~~ ~~~ ,, ~~ ~ .f.' tit ® r~, ~t~ r ~_ ~~~ 4r A t P~F _z _ ~~ ~ I~ ' r- -. ~ ~ -'~ ~~-<< II OR~G~ ~~~~f~ ~ # ~ I: ~. --4.~-~1 ~ _ ~, ~, ~~ _ ~ y ~~ ~ ~ ,.. ,__ ut~,rEt'~N~_ ~-- 1 J = --~j-j ~ ~. ~ ;;ill TFd (7FE dt19.~~ ~ ~ ~ ~.~ __ ,~ .~ ~, _ _ _ __-~ ~._. ~ f _ 56 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE RURAL 1 2 As can be seen, the Department borders more neighboring departments than any 3 other in the County. This is particularly important as the Department provides 4 mutual aid to each of these departments on any significant incidents, and responds 5 under the new multi-department response protocol with these departments as well. 6 Those neighboring fire districts are Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Efland, Eno, New Hope, 7 and Orange Grove. 8 9 The Department perceives good working relationships with its neighboring 10 departments, although acknowledges that, at times, there have been strained 11 relations with the Orange County Rescue Squad (North). 12 13 The Department has two stations from which it responds to calls, the approximate 14 location of which are shown on the map. The second station is more of a substation 15 where apparatus is housed. 16 17 18 19 Station One is located in downtown Hillsborough at 206 South Churton Street. 57 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE RURAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Station Two is located north of town in the rural district at 835 Phelps Road. Organization 10 The Department is governed by a Board of Directors. The operations of the 11 Department are overseen by a volunteer chief. The Department has a compliment 12 of paid staff for 24 hour coverage. The paid staff is managed by a paid assistant 13 chief. 14 15 The organization chart below illustrates the operations leadership team for the 16 Department. 17 58 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE RURAL Chief (Volunteer) .Safety Offieer (Volunteer) Deputy Chief (Volunteer) ~ ( Assistant Chief (Paid) Captain Captain (Volunteer) (Paid) Captain Captain (Volunteer) (Paid) First Responder Support (2 Volunteer) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Demographics The Town of Hillsborough encompasses approximately 4.Ssquare miles of the 64 square miles of the Fire District. Within the town is the largest concentration of population: approximately 6,000. The Town's economy is marked by a stable labor market, low unemployment and a diversified industry and services economic base, including the majority of the County's government offices. The remainder of the district is largely rural in nature with some agricultural elements added to the residents who commute to Chapel Hill. 59 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE RURAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Department Membership The Department has 30 volunteers and 13 paid staff members. The paid staff is on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 1~--~-~4 ~ ~ ~ ~ Schley ~ _ ~ <<: ~ r -~~ j~g~, ~ ~ ~ ~1, ,,~ ~ ~~~d ~~ 1 4 ~ ` j„y l _: ~ ~~ _ ~`" ~~ K ' ~-'1 m r~ ~s~ ~ 7-'- F-~. to ~ f ~fa~?R7F~ ,~,--~ ~r `l~`~~ ~ ~~y Cascades ]/l `i- ~- ~~ ~"' ~p ~d , j ;~~ ~~ ~ e~ o r 8us4~~ f ___ ,~ , , 1 ~ ~ ;. ~ ~~~,r Lnu Riucr_ ~ Orange ~ I }`1 ~~ He~ht~ ffi Bu~ c-=zS~~. r -,- - Stag I',,il~-. - '! ~ ~~ ~~ L ~. r- ~ r ~ F ~ ~ T( F f 7~ '' ~ r t ~ fiorough .r,-~t, ByP'' r C i ~70 H,Ilsbnrc ~ g >$ .~ ...~~:~lr'r-~~ 1 ~ ~ ~~ ~\ffi ~ ~~ ~`Dimmo Fs ~I ~ ~_ ~~ i_ t t ~ ~,. ~~ ; ~~ ~~ a ~~ ~' 1 ~ ~ ~ ~~ fnnunnM ~17I1f14 tutcmc~ft Cnmwand ~o~y~~~n ~j.i~~ ,~ _. 1 ,i ~ ll1' ~~~ rt~ ~ Glft rinMc Tr r1~ ~ eus 5 ~~~ ~ Bad ~, ~~~ r ~ ~ r, ~~ I. , GolPnial ~ ~} ~ ~ ~ ~~ `:~~ ~ The above map provides the distribution of volunteer members within the District. 60 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE RURAL 1 Primary Risks 2 3 Orange Rural's response district includes portions of Interstate 40 and Interstate 85. 4 Both of these major highways present risks relating to serious vehicle accidents and 5 hazardous materials incidents. 6 7 8 Apparatus 9 Type Age Pump Tank Passenger Special Ca acity Ca aci Ca acity E ui ment Aerial 1989 1,500 gpm 400 gallons 4 75 Foot LTI Simon-Duplex Ladder Cab/Chassis En ' e 1996 1,500 m 750 gallons 6 Pumper/Tanker KME 2000 1,500 m 1,000 gallons 6 Tanker - EEI 1991 1,500 m 2,500 gallons 2 Pumper/Tanker 2002 1,250 gpm 1,000 gallons 2 K1VlE/International Chassis Squad International 1983 2 Extrication Tools, Cascade System, Tarps, Various Other Multi- P ose Tools Brush Truck 1996 300 gpm 3 Ground Sweep F-350 Cab/Chassis Nozzles; Pierce Body Plumbed Booster Reel. 10 11 12 With this complement of apparatus from both stations, the Department has 5,650 13 gallons of water capacity for structure fires, well within the standards of rural water 14 supply, especially given the additional water shuttle capaaty with mutual aid 15 departments. In addition, there are some hydrants located within Hillsborough 16 itself, aiding water supply. 61 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE RURAL 1 Financial Capacity of the Department 2 3 Tax Rate and Revenues 4 5 Each year the Orange Rural Fire Department submits requests to the Town 6 Board to cover the cost of 1) Providing fire protection within the Town limits, 7 and 2) Costs for maintenance and necessary upgrades to the station that is 8 owned by the Town [Station 1].1 In FY 06 that amount was $612,210. In FY 07 9 the amount is increased to $656,000. This includes an injection of capital of 10 $80,000. 11 12 The District tax rate is $0.034. This translates into projected revenues of 13 approximately $224,165.00. The total budget for Orange Rural is 14 approximately $837,000. 15 16 Debt 17 18 We did not obtain any financial data from the Department and thus are unable 19 to comment on debt or debt structure. 20 21 Projected capital needs 22 23 The Department will need to consider replacing its EEI Tanker and Aerial in the 24 next three to six years. The Aerial unit will cost approximately $700,000. The 25 Tanker replacement will cost approximately $200,000 to $250,000. The 26 Department also needs to develop plans regarding renovation or relocation for 27 Station 1: We estimate the costs associated with that project could run from a 28 Iow of $750,000 to in excess of $5,000,000 depending on land acquisition issues 29 and station design. 30 31 Observations and Issues 32 33 The downtown station is an attractive facility but response can be difficult due to 34 downtown traffic congestion. The Fire Chief has told the Town of Hillsborough ~ Town of Hillsborough FY 07 Budget 62 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE RURAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 that the Station will probably no longer meet the needs of the Department sometime at or following 2011. Currently, the Orange Rural Fire Department employs 5 full-time firefighters who provide coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The current arrangement between the Department and the Town is not guaranteed. The Town is exannining options and the potential for a long term arrangement and the financial implications of such an arrangement. Recommendations We recommend that the Department continue its planning process with the Town to determine its role in providing fire protection within the Town limits and develop internally two plans: one if a long term agreement is reached and the Deparhnent is the provider of service over a long term; another plan should be developed based on the scenario that the Department does not provide fire protection to the Town. These plans should include the financial implications of each, the role volunteers will play, and projections of paid staffing. The Department should identify the availability of volunteers for daytime response, evening response, and weekend response. As a part of this process the Department should consider implementing a volunteer duty system for covering week nights and weekends, allowing for a re allocation of paid personnel for maximum deployment. 63 ORANGE COUNTY SIRE RESCUE STUDY WHITE CROSS 1 Overview 2 3 The White Cross Fire District is located in the southwestern portion of Orange 4 County. The District is served by the White Cross Volunteer Fixe Department. The 5 District has an assessed property value of approximately $286,936,000. 6 7 8 ~~s-~: 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 As can be seen, the Department borders the neighboring fire districts of Orange Grove, South Orange (Carrboro), and Damascus (North Chatham). The Department provides mutual aid to each of these departments on any significant incidents, and responds under the new multi-department response protocol with these departments as well. The District also borders Alamance and Chatham Counties and provides mutual aid on request to Eli Whitney. 64 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY WHITE CROSS __ 1 2 3 The Department has one station located on Old Greensboro Road from which it 4 responds to calls, the approximate location of which is shown on the map above. 5 The station is very close to being located in the middle of the District and as such 6 the Department can adequately serve its district within the Department of 7 Insurance accepted 5 mile range. There is one very small area outside the 5 mile 8 area at Dairyland Road and Highway 54. 9 10 11 Organization 12 13 We did not receive data regarding the Department's organizational or governance 14 structure. 15 16 17 Demographics 18 19 The White Cross District is largely rural residential and agricultural in nature. 20 Being on the Highway 54 corridor between Carrboro/Chapel Hill and 21 Chatham/Alamance there is the expectation that there will be residents move to the 22 District to escape the hectic pace of suburban or urban life and commute to their 23 jobs. However, the District remains fundamentally rural in character. 24 65 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY WHITE CROSS 1 The community is tight knit and residents know their neighbors as well as their 2 extended neighbors. There is a community recreation center that hosts various 3 community events, usually well attended by members of the White Cross 4 community and members of the fire department. It is located northeast of the 5 station, a little over a mile. 6 8 Department Membership 9 10 The Department has 28 members, some of whom are begiruvng to "age out". Their 11 members tend to stay on the Department; the average tenure is 14 years. There are 12 a few members that are younger but additional youth would be helpful would be 13 classified as "junior" members. The Department does have women who are active 14 members. 15 16 Many of the members are trained and certified as medical first responders. This is 1 ~ important as about 50% of the Department's calls are medical in nature. All first 18 responders have radios to enable them to contact responding medical units. The 19 Department leadership perceives this program to be the most visible and extremely 20 effective. 21 22 The map on the following page provides an illustration of the location of the 23 Department's members. This distribution is helpful in understanding the staffing 24 and response of personnel. 25 66 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY WHITE CROSS { {' 1 ~ s~ ~y~.~ J "._ ,-~ 34 ~ ~ _ '"~, ~ .~~ Oranyk Grove ~ l ~ t1 r 4'~ ~~~.~ ~ ~ Loo ~ ~ /f ~ '" l -' "" d J ,, _ ~ ~- ~ (/ _I, `~~~ .fir ~ t{"' f ~l"~ _ - -._L ~ _ ~ Old OreariS~nrn Rd= ~~ a ~T ~~ ,`" 4 ~.°`; ~.u ' ~~ :`~ ' _\ } J~ ~~. ~. L,~~ ` 1 ~~ ~ 1~ ;~ ~1 ~ ~_ - ~~~ I: J III s ~ -~ I ;~ ~ ~ J ~R" V~ ~~ I ~ S T r' i n^ Y,S' CopyrighY©2D04 tificrosoft Copp and(or rts supp6ecs. Wl1rigMs;resen~Ed ~ t '.~' `- r '~~ ~, ~ 1 2 3 4 De Croy ~1 "~, ~ 67 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY WHITE CRO S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Primary Risks There are no interstate highways and no railroads that transverse the District. State Highway 54 runs the length of the District's northern boundary with Orange Grove. This poses potential vehicle accident and hazardous material incident exposures. Other risks are primarily related to the agricultural nature of the community: barn fires, wildland fires, farm machinery accidents, and other structure fires. Current Apparatus We did not receive data regarding the Department's apparatus. Financial Capacity of the Department White Cross is funded through a combination of tax revenues, fund raising and donations from the community. The Department budget is based on $120,513.00 in annual revenues. Tax Rate and Revenues The District tax rate is $0.042. This translates into projected revenues of approximately $120,000. Debt We did not receive data regarding the Department's financial budget or its debt service requirements. 68 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY WHITE CRO S S 1 Projected capital needs 2 3 The Department will need to replace its tanker in the future. The Department 4 also has plans to expand the station. We estimate the costs will be 5 approximately $750,000. 6 7 8 Observations and Issues 9 10 The Department's station needs expansion and renovation. The station does not 11 have dormitory facilities, but with the exception of severe weather or natural 12 disaster, there is no eminent need for such space. Because new apparatus is larger 13 that the apparatus that is to be replaced, the Bays need to be enlarged. 14 15 The Department currently has an ISO rating of 9S. One critical component for this 16 reduction is certification and documentation of water supply sources. Other issues 17 may need to be addressed in order to improve the rating for this department. 18 19 White Cross, as with most of the department's in the County, needs assistance with 20 administrative issues such as grant identification and writing, preparation for ISO 21 examinations, budgeting, and financing. 22 23 Daytime response coverage is an issue for White Cross, although the Department is 24 currently able to respond to calls during weekday "work hours" albeit with a 25 minimum number of personnel. 26 27 ,White Cross currently has 1 base station radios, 4 mobile unit radios, and 20 28 portable radios. With the County's migration to 800 MHz., White Cross has been 29 allotted 3 portable radios. This is clearly insufficient and White Cross is hardly in a 30 financial position to be able to afford the additional radios necessary for it to be on 31 the current communications level. 32 33 The Department has trouble receiving dispatches from Emergency 34 Communications. The repeater that serves the Department is subject to frequent 35 lightning strikes and is often off line. 'The Department has missed dispatches. Even 69 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY WHITE CROSS 1 with the implementation of 800 MHz, the Department will be subject to the same 2 situation as dispatching will not occur over the 800 MHz system. 3 4 5 Recommendations 6 7 8 We recommend that the department identify and formally document volunteers 9 available for weekday daytime response. Following this process, the Department 10 should evaluate the feasibility of hiring 1 person to serve 8 to 10 hour days on 11 weekdays. 12 13 We recommend that the District raise its tax rate from $0.042 to $0.057. This will 14 add $43,000 to the Department's revenues and put it more into line with other 15 districts. This additional revenue is essential to hiring paid personnel. 16 17 We recommend that the County reconfigure the District line with Orange Grove 18 where the Orange Grove District dips twice into the White Cross District. From a 19 strategic and tactical perspective, this area belongs in White Cross, especially in 20 light of the distribution of members who live in or in close proximity to these areas. 21 22 70 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NORTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Overview 'T'his section will be organized a little differently given the nature of the rescue squads. The North Orange County Rescue Squad is responsible for responding to call throughout Orange County. Their response is functionally determined. The functions the Squad provides are: - Extrication; - Dive Team; - Search and Rescue; - EMS Transport. ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NORTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 -ti-::_~: . ~~ ~ . ~: ~- Y .._. - - = ~ ..~ - The Department has one station from which it responds to calls, the approximate location of which is shown on the map on the preceding page. It is located on Highway 86 in south Hillsborough. Organization The Squad is govexned by a board of directors, the membership of which is open to all members of the community. Members of the Squad also serve on the Board. The Chief reports to the Board. 72 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NORTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD Board of Directors Chief Deputy Chief (Training and. Operations) Assistant Chief Assistant Chief Assistant Chief (EMS) (Rescue) (SpecialOpertions) 1 2 4 Captains and Lieutenants assist the Assistant Chiefs with equipment, apparatus and 5 station maintenance, as well as other duties that maybe assigned. 6 Squad History 7 8 Founded in 1968, the Squad was the first emergency medical response organization in 9 Orange County. Originally, the squad provided basic life support and transport. 10 Within increasing call volume, the Squad hired paid personnel to cover during the 11 hours when volunteers were not typically available. 12 13 As demand increased and EMS levels of service advanced, the North Orange County 14 Rescue Squad and the South Orange County Rescue Squad merged into a single 15 entity (Orange EMS & Rescue Squad) to provide EMS response and transport to the 16 County. The organization struggled financially and in managing its personnel and 17 services. Orange County assumed responsibility for EMS paramedic level service 73 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NORTII OP:ANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 and patient transport in 2003 and the Squad provided technical rescue services and 2 volunteer support for staffing transport units. 3 4 In 2004, the Squad dissolved back into two separate rescue squads along functional 5 lines. 6 7 8 Department Membership 9 10 The Department has 46 members. Nine are members of the Dive Team, 15 are 11 involved in Search and Rescue, 15 are involved in EMS care and transport, and 25 12 members speaalize in Extrication. 13 14 The map below provides an illustration of the location of the Department's members. 15 This distribution is helpful in understanding the staffing and response of personnel. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 74 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NORTH OI~:ANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Current Apparatus - 1989 Ford F-350 EMS Box Unit Ambulance - 1983 Ford Van -Dive Unit - 2003 John Deere "Gator" ATV - used for special events and off- road rescue - 1986 Ford F-350 Extrication Vehicle (Stationed at Carrboro Fire Department) - 1993 Freightliner Heavy Rescue Vehicle -Full extrication capacity - 1993 Chevy Suburban Utility Vehicle The Squad has ordered a new 2006 EVI Heavy Rescue Vehicle for delivery in September 2006. Financial Capacity of the Department North Orange Rescue Squad receives no tax funding. Its budget is funded through fund raising and donations from the community. A monthly lease payment from Orange County EMS is also part of the Squad's revenue. The Squad also borrows money as needed for apparatus purchases and has had to rely on lines of credit for operations. Revenues The Squad mails fund raising solicitations annually. Debt The Squad currently owes over $91,000 for apparatus and its operating line of credit. It will assume another $358,000 upon delivery of its new heavy squad truck. The Squad does not appear to have the financial capacity to service its debt. 75 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NORTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 2 3 Projected capital needs 4 5 The Squad will need to replace other apparatus in the next five years. 6 7 8 Issues 9 10 The Squad's station somewhat adequately serves its needs but is in need of 11 maintenance and renovation. The station's dormitory facilities need renovation and 12 updating and the offices and dayroom are much worn and need renovation. 13 14 The Squad has a fairly young leadership team that lacks strong management and 15 financial skills. They have difficulty seeing the big picture and tend to focus on those 16 things that they understand. From a financial perspective the Squad is technically, 17 and practically, insolvent with little likelihood of recovering. The leadership has 18 tallced about a number of schemes to change their status but those are also unlikely. 19 20 The Squad would like to have paid staff to cover during those hours when volunteers 21 are minimally available. However, financial constraints make this unlikely. 22 Currently, members are paid $9 per hour for providing daytime coverage. The Squad 23 also has an administrative person in a part-time position. 24 25 The Squad provides its services countywide. This has become a problem in terms of 26 response time for extrication incidents, particularly in the northern area of the 27 County. Many of the fire departments now have basic extrication capability and the 28 Squad is not being requested for all calls or is being canceled in route tot the incident. 29 Additionally, most of the fire departments now have the capability to perform basic 30 extrication and Hillsborough has a "Heavy Rescue" with full extrication capability. 31 This is a morale issue for the Rescue Squad as they feel that they are being pushed out 32 of their niche.. 33 34 The Squad's relations with the South Orange County Rescue Squad and with the fire 35 departments in the County are, at best, strained. 36 76 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NORTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 North Orange Rescue Squad currently has 1 base station radio, 10 mobile unit radios, 2 and 10 portable radios. With the County's migration to 800 MHz., it is uncertain as to 3 how many radios have been allotted. The Squad is hardly in a financial position to 4 be able to afford the additional radios necessary for it to be on its current 5 communications level. 6 7 Recommendations 8 9 10 We recommend that the Squad be dissolved as a separate organization and its assets 11 and liabilities be assumed by Orange County Emergency Management. Members 12 will become a part of the EMS organization structure under its Volunteer 13 Coordinator. They will continue to operate as currently with the current command 14 structure. However, the members will not be burdened with the management and 15 financial aspects of the organization. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 EMS members will be assigned as available to EMS Transport crews, allowing them more opportunity than present to apply their skills. Extrication personnel would still respond as they currently do. Those who live in close proximity to fire departments 77 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY NORTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 will be encouraged to actively participate with those departments in their extrication 2 training and response. 3 4 This will be a difficult recommendation to accept by the Squad. However, it was 5 clear that there is a strong dedication to serve the County and that should outweigh 6 any parochial feelings. Hopefully, the members will see the wisdom of removing 7 management and financial concerns that have overwhelmed the organization in 8 recent years. 9 10 11 12 78 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY SOUTH OP:ANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 Overview 2 3 This section will be organized a little differently given the nature of the rescue 4 squads. The Squad has two stations from which it responds to calls. The Squad 5 does not serve a defined response area, and for the most part, the Squad is not a 6 first responder organization. However, the Squad does provide emergency 7 ambulance service to the University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill (University) 8 campus and environs on Thursday, Friday and Satuxday nights from 1800 hours in 9 the evening until 0600 hours the following morning. When on duty, this crew also 10 provides service to the greater Orange County community when it is either the 11 closest unit or the only unit available because Orange County EMS is busy on other 12 calls. In essence, the duty crew provides Orange County EMS with reserve capacity. 13 14 The Squad provides the University and the greater Orange County community with 15 EMS planning, coordination, and response coverage during special events, such as 16 game day, High School football games, and Franklin Street parties (Halloween, 17 etc.). 18 19 The Squad experiences about 600 patient contacts and 360 transports per year. 20 21 The Squad's Technical Rescue division provides services statewide when called 22 upon. Recently, the State of North Carolina called upon the Squad to provide Swift 23 Water Rescue services to the western. counties of North Carolina when hurricanes 24 were ravaging the region. The Technical Rescue division sees action less than ten 25 times a year, which emphasizes the considerable dedication from its personnel 26 given the extensive continuing education and training these disciplines require. 27 28 The Squad operates out of two stations: 202 Roberson Street, Carrboro, and 261 S. 29 Churton Street, Hillsborough. The Squad also uses an apartment, provided by 30 UNC-CH, for use by the ambulance duty crew when they are on duty. 31 79 ORANGE COUI~tTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY SOUTH OP:ANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 2 3 4 5 6 Organization The Squad is organized into two main divisions: the EMS division and the Technical Rescue division. The EMS division is further organized into four crews. The Squad meets monthly on the second Thursday of the month. ~~~~~~ ~ti~,,~M1~ 2ro.~.a e;uw,rJ! coo :.u„.=aU~an:m,u cnNroterslr..ro omcar oa3an>~reaors u.:Ji V_~ko Ex-0IDCO to Commend BnD Ctt31r CEO1P2r,I63n[ F : i~+u[.~+~1r 1~:krC.nan r.7 1~ ~~~r~-7~ ~7'~^[: ~~r1 Tf090tca 33aYan ^*3~[A^'°r~ P~omc~om©oD rx-omcowsaD, SvHTrsMii~Mlram~Y~ .... hsclstaa[Qt6Y D,15 Ftiena Ga~rmltL~» JgJCten[GRH[TeChnla~lR~ctr3 I.fib RSIZ IIIHf; BIf 5'/d2i91 -an LYanrz3re. CpFLb~S HAS TfalfYfYJ EMS Polty&Faoa~rLra Canmric9 - Opaal7ma ~ T21nItg CRaIf:OPBJ Tectr~alRwah TortnhalFiecar CapL:ln Ca(4!n lhmbomhq CcmmllEa Capla!~ Capfaln Chls Saul T~~hI~/J Clltlr Caol~lYllians Jeir lYllumc &ym itrJen Urutansrt lJcutanalt Chill: Pay DeRlaW llau'~nart CInt GGCarn ~BJ eau Eafin FtIL'LtlrA Cdnrtln2o ueumnrtu JOnlacCa3t[~ .. .._ .._ Ccrrrrutit) f ~'IafAtl (2a8g1IW }JSrrbas P7.13Mertfr_tc Rebai?hierrP7s South t?range iRsacue Squad t3rganizational Chart Ctaoember X005 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Department Membership Membership consists of approximately 75 students, adults from the community, and other professionals from the university. About 41 are provisional members in 80 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY SOUTH OP:ANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 various stages of training and will probably, through attrition, result in about 15 to 2 20 remaining more than a year with about 10 of those developing into full 3 contributors to the organization. The Squad has about 20 people trained in the 4 Technical Rescue division. About 12 are also skilled EMS personnel. 5 6 The EMS division requires members to volunteer for twenty-four, twelve-hour duty 7 shifts. Members also volunteer considerable time for special events, such as UNC- 8 CH football games that require about 10 hours of coverage each. A basketball 9 game requires about 4 to 5 hours of coverage. 10 11 Required EMS training includes monthly 3-hour training sessions repeated twice 12 each month. 13 14 Technical Rescue personnel train one full Saturday each month. They are expected 15 to attend four 3-day classes each year in the various rescue disciplines: SWRT- I, 16 SWRT-ADV, Ropes, Confined Space, SCSA, etc., and meet annual recertification 17 requirements. 18 19 The map below provides an illustration of the location of the Department's 20 members. This distribution is helpful in understanding the staffing. Current 21 members reside in a five county area. 22 23 81 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE S'T'UDY SOUTH OI~:ANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD ~ ~ - L} `~JdnC\~(p~ ~~/ _ t6oJ+~snow ~ ) ~~ . ~ ~ "'0Q ~\. /' So ~~~ ~ ll((I JY~y ((1 ~ jl `~ '._~ {j J/V R A7~ tJ V I L I F y ~~~.~-. .: ~H1~.6a 9'tb II :~ ~ in'--~1~ t: mud 7~ ~: va creso r--x A~c;rt06~Yww ~ -.o ~ W k~ ,, Y~ _ -.~ j1°~~ Pa.~k C,°fi r ~ ~~~ t ~~ ~i alTo'e p°r ~~ - . 'tRN~(LV o „rap-Ti s~ ~-~ ~"; r ~ 1 ~~ ~ t~ y ~t -~ ,>,~ t o,~ o ~, 5,~ ~ ® t ~f ~ ~ ~, ~~'~~ /~ t ~.-' . ~° et or Arne r ~ tJew L1~t . W r ._i ~t ~ r-- -S Sz- Era Occnt}c ~ ; O '~ A~ N (k-E t S~ qF'.~~ r Ch TrrN ~ke ~J 01f 1 , Y t1`y I. ~ , 16 ~ ~ .,pQUChdf~i ms's ~ ~ /,i ~ 4- '~~~ ~ r ~~ II ~. ~ ~. oo~ t I ap` of ,r ~~ f ~~ rt- ~ _ ~ t F rf te'd Tad ~< tz; i{ n r,~ t r ~u ca ur ~~.,., a ~ - , i ~~ ~~ i 5_ r s T°1, ~ ~~~ `~ o~ i.~oo r n ~ ~r6`m~e F •{ ~ ice. ~ ~~. ; - a`1~y~ c ,~ _ C ~ OIL/I N 1'i~~~~~ ',.(.~'-~ ~ ~ L ) ~ ~ 1 2 3 g m .n I>n ~ ~ ~t 1 ~ ~ ~ ' C H A T H h1 ( t ~ 1 ~ ~ o„ } ~ ~~~nv~ Y ~ ~ ~ o - _~~ ;, ~E~,~, ` , : ~~.~. .., 'ti w € t. ~ ~ - ll °r7~,- J Coy nOIIIfM1Maosolt.Co 'SW,b~6s spa fiers pln Ms rce ed~ r __ e _ ~ ~`4 ~R I IOMD 4~ ~ 1. ~ i ~1/ _ ~~~ ~ ~ d~~4 ~> ~ rPn ~ f sh~t~~Y~~~~~~~~ri~%ti u ~~m a~ l ~c \ ~~\ ~~ f~ \ (',fQ~ r S ~1 ~t~~yga r ~-~y~oar~4'l , ro Current Apparatus Type Age Special Equipment F350 Pickup 2006 Ambulance 2005 Gator 2004 12' Trailer 2004 Confined space, Trench Rescue equipment 20' Trailer 2004 Gator, EMS Special Event equipment G~~mman Van 1999 F350 Rack Pickup 1993 4 5 6 The 20' trailer is stored outside. 7 82 ORANGE COUNTY ~ FIRE RESCUE STUDY SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Financial Capacity of the Depaafiment South Orange Rescue Squad receives no tax funding. Revenues In 2005, the Squad generated over $278,000 of income. The major sources of this income came from Targeted Benefactors, over $79,000; Mail solicitation fund drives, over $77,000; Special Event Fees, nearly $65,000; and Orange County in the form of rent for housing ambulances, over $27,000. Although the spring and fall mail solicitation fund drives produced over $77,000 of income, nearly half of it, $35,000, is consumed in the expense of the effort. As of June 7, 2006, income is only $84,000. with most of this, $49,000, coming from Event fees. Expenditures Squad expenses for the year 2005 totaled $233,000. About $100,000 was spent on vehicles and communication expenses. As of June 7, 2006, expenses have totaled over $110,000. On this same date, the Squad had cash assets of $52,000; most of this, nearly $35,000, is categorized as operating reserve. Projected capital needs For unplementation of the 800MHz system, the Squad estimates it will need 50 radios to replace its current communication complement. That is probably a $250,000 expenditure. 83 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 Anew ambulance is in the plans for the future. 2 3 4 Issues S 6 The Roberson Street station is very cramped and offers limited space for housing 7 vehicles, offices, meeting and training rooms. The training room is in frequent use 8 by various public safety and law enforcement groups free of charge. 9 10 A positive issue is that the Squad has ten certified instructors in the organization 11 that can cover the following disciplines: ERT, Ropes, CPR, RT, and EMS. 12 13 The Squad is very experienced in providing EMS services to large crowds in non- 14 traditional special event situations and has served as the proving ground for many 1 S professionals in related career fields. 16 17 The Squad would like to improve in its records and data management. 18 19 Although it is not a primary first responder organization, the Squad has the ability 20 to mobilize quickly when called upon. 21 22 The Squad is very successful in recruiting UNC-CH students as new members who 23 provide a continuous source of fresh volunteers. Most of these volunteers first get 24 involved through attendance in the EMT classes the Squad conducts on the 2S university campus. Although this generates a large pool of candidates, many do not 26 remain. active long enough to develop into mature contributing members. The 27 Squad is trying to expand its recruiting efforts to include more members from the 28 community that may remain longer and provide better continuity from year to year. 29 30 The Squad would like to be in a better financial position to provide members with 31 some of the personal equipment and clothing need to perform Squad tasks. As it 32 stands currently, members must provide most of their own personal gear and 33 clothing. The Squad does provide a uniform shirt. 34 84 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD 1 The Squad believes it has an excellent working relationship with Orange County 2 EMS. The organizations are coordinating training and OC EMS relies upon Squad 3 members to back fill duty shifts when EMS is short of personnel due to illness or 4 other causes. 5 6 7 Recommendations 8 9 10 We recommend that the Squad begin the planning process for the relocation or 11 renovation of its Roberson Street Station. 12 13 We recommend a long term financial plan and three year ruruzing budget be 14 developed to ensure continued financial stability of the Squad. South Orange 15 Rescue could very easily find itself in a financial situation comparable to North 16 Orange Rescue if proper planning is not put in place. 85 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE C®UNTY EMS 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1S 16 17 18 19 Overview The Orange County Division of EMS is a division of Orange County Emergency Management and is responsible for responding to emergency medical calls throughout Orange County. The primary .functions are patient assessment, diagnosis, preliminary treatment, and transport. The Division responds to calls from four locations: South Orange Rescue Squad (Roberson Street, Carrboro); Emergency Management Headquarters .(New Hope Church Road, Hillsborough); North Orange Rescue Squad (Highway 86 north of I- 85); and, Efland (Mount Willing Road, Efland; weekday peak hours only). Organization The EMS Division is an organizational unit of the County's Emergency Management Department. 86 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE COUNTY EMS Emergency Management Director Orange County Emergency Medical Director Emergency Medical Services Director Emergency Medical Services Operations Officer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 A Shift Supervisor ~ ( B Shift Supervisor ~ ~ C Shift Supervisor ~ ( D Shifi Supervisor The Emergency Management Director reports to .the County Manager. A Department deputy director is the Division Director. Operations Emergency medical service is provided through a tiered responder delivery system. The first tier is the Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) program, operated by telecommunicators in the County's consolidated 9-1-1 Communications Center. These telecommunicators are trained in obtaining information necessary to initially determine the nature of the incident, the severity of need, and, if necessary, provide instructions for basic care. They are supported by technology: a computer aid providing screens with emergency medical information. 87 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE COUNTY EMS 1 The next tier is the Fire Department First Responders. They are dispatched with 2 other EMS units in urgent situations. These First Responders have medical 3 training, equipment and frequently arrive on scene before other EMS responders. 4 They can communicate with EMS responders about patient condition and status: 5 The next .tier of service is the Initial Response Vehicle Paramedic. IRV Paramedics 6 respond to all EMS Calls. Under this approach; it is the County's philosophy that 7 every citizen be provided equal access to high-qualify outcome-based medical 8 assessment and treatment. It also prevents many unnecessary transports allowing 9 the Division to operate with fewer resources at a lower cost to the taxpayer. 10 The theory behind using ]RV Medics is to treat the patient's medical condition, 11 rather than simply providing a, ride to the hospital. IRV Paramedics provide 12 advanced assessment and treatment as needed. The Orange County model is "out- 13 of-hospital" mediane rather than "pre-hospital" medicine. Orange County's 14 program is unique among North Carolina EMS systems. 15 Following the IRV Medic assessment, transportation maybe provided by aCounty- 16 .operated emergency ambulance staffed by Emergency Medical Technicians, or the 17 patient maybe referred to another more appropriate form of transportation. 18 EMS demand has increased countywide. Graphs are provided in the Appendix of 19 the report demonstrating _the increase in call volume. 20 21 22 Staffing 23 24 Under the 2007 budget, the Division is authorized for 24 paramedics (including 25 supervisors) and 24 EMTs. The management team consists of an Emergency 26 Medical Director who is on staff at UNC Hospitals and under whose medical 27 license the system operates, a Division Director, and an Operations Officer. 88 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE COUNTY EMS 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Current Apparatus While we have not obtained a list of the apparatus used by the Division, the vehicles are primarily ambulances used for transport and sport utility vehicles used by paramedics and officers. Financial Capacity of the Division As an organizational unit of the County, we present the budget information for the Division below. 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Actual Actual Original Expenditures Expenditures Budeet Personnel $2,194,612 $2,525,566 $2,612,633 Operations $434,616 $459,994 $468,328 Capital 7 068 ~ 17 263 Total 2 636 296 2 985 560 3 098 224 Revenue $1,139,826 $1,364,250 $1,450,000 Net Costs $1,496,470 $1,621,310 $1,648,224 2005-06 2006-07 2006-07 12-Month Department Manager Estimate Requested Recommended $2,905,379 $3,088,504 $3,088,504 $530,337 $808,060 $514,258 17 263 X3.452,979 X3,896,564 X3.602,762 $1,530,000 $1,555,000 $1,555,000 $1,922,979 $2,341,564 $2,047,762 By comparison, Wake County EMS will spend $14,748,054 (versus $3,602,762) offset by $7,451,967 (versus $1,555,000) in revenues. While some of the difference may be explained by size and call volume, some of the difference is also accounted for by the County's lRV Paramedic program. Observations and Issues The Division is headquartered with the rest of the Emergency Management Department. Space is a premium and congestion normal. 89 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORA1vGE COUNTY EMS 1 2 The EMS delivery organization is over-burdened and human resources over- 3 worked. Paramedics and EMTs currently work a 24 hour shift. It is not unusual for 4 a paramedic to work more than 80 hours in a work week and more than 320 hours 5 in a 28 day cycle. The staff is exhausted. This shift configuration is a dangerous 6 one for medical personnel as they require their best mental acuity under the County's 7 program. This is well above the FLSA maximum prior to overtime of 56 hours per week 8 and 216 hours during a 28 day cycle. 9 10 Because of the current staffing levels, management has less time to manage and 11 thus many of the quality assurance activities are Left undone. 12 13 The Division does not make full use of technology and still operates on a paper- 14 based approach to documentation. 15 16 There is no unit north of Hillsborough at the North Orange Rescue Squad station. 17 This dramatically affects response times and patient care. It also places a burden on 18 fire department first responders as they are required to provide care over a longer 19 period of time. 20 21 While it is expected that the Medical Director would be involved in trawling, 22 Orange County's Medical Director is overly involved in the base details of training 23 as there is no full time training coordinator/instructor. 24 25 The Division does not have a suffia.ent number of ambulance units. 26 27 28 Recommendations 29 30 Should the County adopt our recommendation to merge the North Orange County 31 Rescue Squad into the EMS Division, it should consider renovating the Rescue 32 Squad's facility for use as EMS headquarters, providing room for training, 33 deployment, offices for EMS and volunteer rescue squad members as well. 34 35 We recommend the Division change the work shift schedule from a four shift to a 36 three shift rotation and change the 24 hour shift to a split shift arrangement of no 37 more than 14 hours. 90 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY OI~;ANGE COUNTY EMS 1 2 We recommend the Division increase the number of "IRV" Medics from the current 3 5 per shift to 8 per shift, including a shift supervisor. 4 5 We recommend the Division increase the number of EMTs per shift from 6 per shift 6 to 10 per shift and the number of active on duty ambulances from 3 to 5. 7 8 The above three recommendations are based on an ever growing amount of 9 research that is confirming when emergency services workers are on duty 10 consistently more than the above standard, their mental acuity and skill functioning 11 are compromised. Orange County has been fortunate to have dedicated personnel 12 who have been willing to work these hours. But the strain is evident and it is a 13 matter of time before a serious lapse of judgment or less than acceptable standard of 14 care results in a tragic outcome. 15 16 The Division needs to improve its relationship with the fire departments. First 17 Responders are a key to the success of the program. They perceive that they are a 18 step child of the program and they do not receive the support in terms of training 19 they need and recognition they deserve. We recommend the Division establish the 20 position of Training Officer and the responsibilities of this position include ensuring 21 that fire departments receive the training they perceive necessary with the 22 recognition that they are not employees with a static work schedule. 23 24 We recommend that the Division deploy a medic unit and transport unit at the 25 Orange Rural Station 2 location on Phelps Road. This provides excellent access to 26 both the Caldwell District and Cedar Grove. It also provides excellent response to 27 incidents in the northern area of Hillsborough and Orange Rural's response district. 28 29 We recommend that the Division make permanent its IlZV unit in Efland. Besides 30 serving Efland, this unit can also serve Cedar Grove, and Orange Grove. 31 32 Given the County's land use plan, we do not believe that it will be necessary to 33 deploy a unit in either Caldwell or Cedar Grove in the plaruvng horizon. 34 35 91 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL 1 Overview 2 3 The County Fire Marshal's Office is located within the County's Emergency 4 Management Department. According to the County's budget document, it is 5 responsible for: 6 7 - Administering. the provisions of the North Carolina Fire Prevention Code. 8 - Reviewing all building and subdivision plans submitted to the County 9 Planning Department for fire code/life safety compliance and disaster 10 planning. 11 - Providing fire education, life safety/disaster preparedness programs to day 12 care providers, healthcare providers, civic organizations and public events 13 for community outreach. 14 - Investigating fires to determine cause and origin of suspicious or 15 undetermined fires. 16 - Assisting with the organization of the Special Operations Team to support 17 hazardous materials and terrorism incidents, disasters, special events and 18 other major inadents. 19 - .Providing fire education classes to elementary schools and Learn Not to 20 Burn fixe education programs. 21 - Providing OSHA training programs to county employees. 22 - Assisting fire departments with county fire administration issues. 23 - Supporting fire and emergency response agencies at emergency incidents 24 in the County. 25 The Office is not responsible for any activities for the Towns of Chapel Hill, 26 Carrboro, or Hillsborough. 92 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE COUNTY FIRE MAlL2SHAL Organization 2 Fire Inspector 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Staffing Emergency Management Director Chief Fire Marshal Fire Inspector 1 (County Fire Training Coordinator There are currently three employees in the Fire Marshal's Office plus the Fire 10 Marshal. 93 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE CO~INTY FI]L2E MARSHAL 1 2 Recommendations 3 4 We recommend an additional Fire Inspector be added to the office over the next 5 two years to assist in the various tasks assigned to the office. 6 7 We recommend the County hire, within the Fire Marshal's office, a County Fire 8 Coordinator to assist volunteer departments with: 9 10 - ISO improvement plaruling and implementation. 11 - Recruitment and retention plans. 12 - Grant identification and applications. 13 - Automatic aid protocols and the implementation of other mutual aid 14 agreements. 15 - Budgeting and reporting requirements. 16 - Coordinating purchasing to help obtain better pricing by grouping 17 purchasing for departrnents. 18 19 There is a perception among the various volunteer departments that the County 20 staff, particularly administration and budget staff, does not appreciate the volunteer 21 nature of these departments. "Information is frequently requested in time frames 22 that would make sense if everyone didn't have other jobs and their volunteer 23 training and response commitment." 24 25 The County Fire Traini~zg Coordinator should include a rotation system for 26 departments using the Chapel Hill Training facility. Under this system, each 27 department would be able to schedule time at the facility while neighboring 28 departments cover their district. 29 30 The County Fire Training Coordinator needs to work closely with the Fire 31 Extension Program Coordinator at Durham Technical Community College to 32 provide more diverse, Community College supported training for the County's 33 Departments. This training needs to be held in a manner convenient to the 34 departments, i.e. within individual departments or no more than two neighboring 35 departments. This allows departments to provide coverage for their districts while 36 obtaining training at a higher level. 94 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY ORANGE COUNTY FIRE MARSIIA.L 2 The County Fire Marshal's office should develop a plan to enable Departments to 3 exercise their collective power to negotiate better prices for equipment by setting up 4 group purchase agreements with suppliers and by Departments planning their 5 purchase needs with sufficient notice to make group purchases. 6 7 The County plannuzg and zoning boards should keep the County fire departments 8 informed of all requests ,and approvals for new development in department 9 response areas. This would help ensure fire protection considerations are included 10 as contingencies in any approvals and the department can generate plans to 11 provide the appropriate and expected protection. 12 The best way to ensure this is to require all plans to not only be forwarded to the 13 Fire Marshall's Office but to require sign off by the Office and the affected 14 department(s). 95 ORANGE COUNTY FAZE RESCUE STUDY ®RANGE C®UNTY PLAN 1 In looking at the long range implications of our observations, we reviewed the 2 County's Long Range Comprehensive Plan. With the exception of a small area in 3 the Efland District, and some significant areas in the New Hope and Hillsborough 4 Districts, the demographics of the various districts will remain the same over a 20 5 year horizon, with the exception of normal marginal growth expected for rural and 6 agricultural land use. 7 8 Based on these projections, we believe that the current number of fire stations for 9 each of the districts will remain sufficient for the 20 year planning horizon. It will 10 be appropriate to review the location of stations periodically. 11 96 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY COUNTYWIDE RECOMMENDATIONS 1 Overview 2 3 This section provides recommendations that apply to multiple departments or are 4 Countywide. The rationale/support for these recommendations is found within the 5 department profiles. 6 7 8 Observations and Recommendations 9 10 Overall 11 12 As a result of our study, without a significant investment in infrastructure, we are 13 convinced that the County will need to remain committed to its current system for 14 delivering both EMS and fire-rescue services. 15 16 The County's current approach of relying on the services of volunteer departments 17 that have fire apparatus capable of hauling water to the scene is necessary unless 18 the County commits to a massive capital infrastructure program for installing water 19 lines and hydrants Countywide. While it may appear expensive. to support the 20 purchase of apparatus ranging from $175,000 to $350,000 in price, the cost is 21 substantially less than such a program. In addition to the capital investment, 22 moving from a volunteer based system where human resource expenditures are 23 minimal, reflecting the need for week day daytime coverage and volunteer 24 reimbursement/incentives, the personnel cost to migrate to an all paid or even 25 mostly paid supplemented by volunteers (a system that often does not work) are 26 also very high and would result in a large tax rate increase. 27 28 The same principle holds true for EMS but in a different way. Orange County EMS 29 relies on the IRV program to meet the County's emergency medical response needs. 30 This program allows the EMS Division to work with a lower level of staffing and 31 fewer transport vehicles. To migrate to the traditional urban/suburban approach 32 adopted by many neighboring counties, the County would have to invest in many 33 more personnel (both at the paramedic and EMT level) and significantly more 34 transport ambulances. 35 36 97 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY COUNTYWIDE RECOMMENDATIONS 1 Funding 2 3 We have evaluated the current -and short-term needs of the fire districts and 4 recommend the following modifications to the tax rates of the respective districts. 5 2005-06 Recommended Fire District or Department Tax Rate 2006-2007 Rate Cedar Grove 7.3 7.8 Efland 3.475 4.975 Eno 5.7 No Change Little River (Caldwell) 4.6 5.1 New Hope 6.25 6.75 Orange Grove 3.4 4.9 Orange Rural 5.6 No Change South Orange (Carrboro) 9.2 No Change White Cross 4.2 5.7 6 7 We believe a policy change needs to be implemented for future financial stability of 8 the departments. It is our understanding that the County has traditionally lowered 9 the tax rate following property reassessment to realize a tax neutral situation. We 10 recommend that the County not drop the rates for the fire tax districts following 11 property reassessment. This will help avoid an increase in'rates while generating 12 additional revenues for the departments. 13 14 15 County Staff Support 16 17 We recommend that the County assist in the certification and documentation of 18 water sources for all departments. This will help departments in obtaining lower 19 ISO ratings and since the County has no hydrant system, each department has this 20 need. The County is in a better position to engage the services of engineers 21 qualified to perform the work and can obtain a better price by having the work 22 performed for all departments. Fire Departments can identify the location of water 23 sources that can be used for water supply. Water engineers will be required to 98 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY COUNTYWIDE RECOMMENDATIONS 1 survey the chosen sites, review topography for runoff, and certify the availability of 2 water over a 50 year time frame. 3 4 5 We recommend that the County arrange asbestos inspector training and licensing 6 for one or more of its building inspectors. This inspector should perform asbestos 7 inspection at no cost for volunteer departments in need of such inspection for live 8 burn training. 9 10 11 Water Supp1X 12 13 Water supply is a major issue in the fire service. Water continues to be the most 14 portable, cost effective tool for suppressing and ,extinguishing most fires. Many 15 municipal jurisdictions have hydrant systems (such as Chapel Hill and Carrboro) 16 and the cost of these systems is not factored into the cost of fire protection. 17 However, volunteer departments for the most part have to carry their water with 18 them, necessitating the need for larger (and more expensive) apparatus with large 19 water tanks. Water points are identified and established from which fire apparatus 20 can draw water, fill their tanks and return to the scene to drop their water into 21 portable hydrants or drop tanks. We have made„ recommendations regarding the 22 need to document and certify water supply sources for individual departments. 23 24 The county should hire a professional engineer to conduct 50 year drought studies 25 on farm ponds and other bodies of water that could be reasonably expected to 26 provide year round water sources for fire protection in the rural regions of the 27 county. These studies could then provide the necessary documentation to meet 28 DOI/ISO rating requirements for improved fire protection ratings. These studies 29 would also justify expenditures to install dry hydrants to make the sources even 30 more practical and efficient for fire protection. 31 32 There is an opportunity for the County to assist two departments in their need for 33 water supply points. A hydrant can be a very effective water point. There is a large 34 water line that follows Highway 54 from Chatham County through Orange County. 35 We recommend that several hydrarts be located along this line to be used by White 36 Cross and Orange Grove (including when they may have to assist Carrboro Fire 99 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY COUNTYWIDE RECOMMENDATIONS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Department in the South Orange Fire District). The map below illustrates the locations we believe would afford the best support for the departments. These locations are base on proxinvty to major transportation arteries relative to the districts. Suggested Fire Hydrant Locations in Southwest Orange County . + i, ~ r ~ / ~ \ \1 ~ ~ Mid Rd ~ ~ 2i ~ J - .car ~ ~ +j~ \ ~ ~J r ~~ ~ ~ ~ C ,t . ~ ( ./. l ~~~_ _~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~-.-~--cam'- ~ A~em i" ~ ~ sr ~ f Ls; ~~ - I i ~ ~ ~ T ~ i ~!,Rd( ~ ~~~s+~P t u~, -- - ~ la ~ t %n-~ ,~-____ n `~ ~ ~ ~ . // tea/ 7 777 ~ p, ry ~`~ ~ r ~ ~ d f ~1 . 1 ~~, . a Lo ~~I 1402004 Memsoft Lo J/a ns Lers. kV.tl lbs. rescrvnl OId G[C~7: o,_ _ '. 'l~ We believe the County should adopt a $.01 rate for a period of two years speafically allocated to the implementation of the 800MH':z. system. This should generate an additional $1,000,000 each of the two years allowing Emergency Management to supply the County volunteer departments the necessary radios for successful implementation. At the end of the two years this $.01 would be eliminated. 'The implementation of the 800MHz. system appears to be seriously under-funded. Many of the fire departments and the rescue squads do not have sufficient reserves 100 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY COUNTYWIDE RECOMMENDATIONS 1 to acquire the needed radios for the conversion. Also, the County has not set aside 2 funds to acquire the radios that will be required to make the system work. Our 3 department specific recommendations provide a listing of the radios needed by 4 each of the organizational units for proper unplementation. 5 6 Emergency services delivery requires a comprehensive communications system 7 through which all the providers can communicate. The reality is that the system 8 will be an abysmal failure if there are components of the system (i.e., emergency 9 service providers) that are unable to communicate over the system. 10 11 As the 800 MHz. system is implemented, we believe that in the first year 2 12 additional communications specialists are required and another 2 in the second 13 year. We estimate the cost of this to be approximately $100,000 this year and 14 another $100,000 additional next year. 15 16 The communications center will need additional communicators/dispatchers as the 17 800 MHz. system is implemented. The use of computer truncated tactical channels 18 and "talk groups" necessitates that channels being used by significant incidents 19 (working fires, mass casualty EMS calls, and natural disasters) are monitored and 20 are part of the incident management process. While the EOC will ultimately be 21 activated for some of these incidents, even in those cases telecommunicators are 22 required to provide logistical and communication support to the incident as well as 23 handle other "normal" emergency traffic. 24 25 Communication and call response protocols should be an integrated part of the 26 Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. While the Emergency Communications 27 Center is technologically sound, some of the procedures relating to fire department 28 support are comparable to those used in the 1960s. The card/notebook system for 29 response protocols is antiquated and should be replaced. Departments have limped 30 along using this process for many years now and the project could begin with 31 existing resources as available and be completed with additional project funds, 32 possibly funded by a grant, in the second year of our planning horizon. 33 Implementation might also include the use of students who could be paid on an 34 hourly basis to aid in the data input. 35 101 ORANGE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE STUDY COUNTYWIDE RECOMMENDATIONS 1 During our data collection phase, we obtained data from the CAD system relative 2 to response times for fire and rescue inadents and EMS incidents. We noticed that 3 there was a significant lack of data regarding the response of fire department first 4 responders. We believe that tracking this data is just as critical for planning and 5 analysis as a part of the approach that Orange County uses for providing 6 emergency medical services. First responders are most likely to be first on the scene 7 followed by IRV Medics, followed by transport personnel. However, it is difficult 8 to determine how well this works apart from anecdotal information. 9 10 Therefore, we recommend that more emphasis be placed on accuracy in obtaining 11 and documenting response data within the CAD system. This will allow EMS 12 policy makers to obtain the data that they need to make ongoing decisions 13 regarding resource deployment. 14 15 We recommend that a County commissioner be assigned to serve as a 16 representative to the chief's council. One has bee designated in the past but has not 17 consistently attended the meetings. Departments would like to see participation 18 and interaction at these meetings by the commissioner. 19 20 As we noted in our introduction, there is a trust gap between the County 21 government and the volunteer fire departments and rescue squads. One way to 22 narrow this gap is for a commissioner to attend and participate in chief's council 23 meetings. 24 25 102 e Safe Gr®up CONSULTANTS TO MANAGEMENT MEM®RANDTJM DATE: June 7, 2006 10409 LESLIE DRIVE RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 27601 (919) 844-9783 E-mail: Steve@sagegroupconsulting.com TO: Orange County Fire-Rescue Study Oversight Committee JH'ROM: Steven A. Savia, MA, CMC Managing Principal RE: Preliminary Recommendations CC: Colonel Jack Ball Orange County Commissioners We have completed about 90% of our data gathering. During this process, we have been working on analysis and developing potential models so that we could provide at least preliminary recommendations during the budgetary process. Those recommendations appear below. We offer them with the caveat that we may alter the recommendations based on additional information. In particular, many of our longer range recommendations do not appear below because we are still awaiting information. Additionally, we have held off on recommendations relative to the most appropriate model for rescue squad functions to be performed as we are waiting on interviews with one of the squads. Fire Departments Overall, our short-term fmancial recommendations relative to the fire departments have to do with the addition of paid personnel to cover during those hours when volunteers are most likely not available and the more significant capital reserves for station improvements, additional stations, replacement apparatus, and other equipment.. There are some departments that would like to add paid staff but are unable to do so due to fmancial constraints. For the most part, County residents are the recipients of quality fire, rescue and emergency medical services at a very modest cost. The volunteer system has allowed the County to provide these emergency services without incurring the costs associated with a full paid department. For example, The following Chart illustrates the 2005-2006 tax rates for the fire districts in the County, including the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Orange County Fire-Rescue Study Oversight Committee Preliminary Recommendations June 7, 2006 Page 2 of 5 2005-06 Fire District or Department Tax Rate Cedar Grove 7.3 Efland 3.475 Eno 5.7 Little River (Caldwell) 4.6 New Hope 6.25 Orange Grove 3.4 Orange Rural 5.6 South Orange (Carrboro) 9.2 White Cross 4.2 Town of Carrboro 15.16 Town of Chapel Hill 11.25 Alamance County - (12 Districts.) 6.5 to 10.5 As one can see there is a wide range of tax rates: within the County volunteer tax districts a high of $.073 to a low of $.042; the towns have rates of over $.10. Realistically, some of the volunteer fire tax districts need to, in the short term, increase their tax rates to provide a higher level of funding. Financially, our recommendations will result in an addition to most of the fire districts increasing their tax rate in a range from $0.005 to $0.015. Specific recommendations by department are shown below. Fire District or Department 2005-06 Recommended Tax Rate 2006-2007 Rate Cedar Grove Efland Eno Little River (Caldwell) New Hope Orange Grove Orange Rural South Orange (Carrboro) White Cross 7.3 7.8 3.475 4.975 5.7 No Change 4.6 5.1 6.25 6.75 3.4 4.9 5.6 No Change 9.2 No Change 4.2 5.7 Orange County Fire-Rescue Study Oversight Committee Preliminary Recommendations June 7, 2006 Page 3 of 5 Emergency Communications There are three primary recommendations in this area, each having financial implications. First, the implementation of the 800MHz. system appears to be seriously under-funded. Many of the fire departments and the rescue squads do not have sufficient reserves to acquire the needed radios for the conversion. Also, the County has not set aside funds to acquire the radios that will be required to make the system work. Our final recommendations provide a listing of the radios needed by each of the organizational units for proper implementation. However, we believe the County should adopt a $.Ol rate for a period of two years specifically allocated to the implementation of the 800MHz. system. This should generate an additional $1,000,000 each of the two years allowing Emergency Management to supply the County volunteer departments the necessary radios for successful implementation. At the end of the two years this $.O1 would be eliminated. There is no point in arguing over whether the departments that did not put sufficient reserves away should have or were not financially able to do so. Emergency services delivery requires a comprehensive communications system through which all the providers can communicate. The reality is that the system will be an abysmal failure if there are components of the system (i.e., emergency service providers) that are unable to communicate over the system. Second, the communications center will need additional communicators/dispatchers as the 800 MHz. system is implemented. The use of computer truncated tactical channels and "talk groups" necessitates that channels being used by significant incidents (working fires, mass casualty EMS calls, and natural disasters) are monitored and are part of the incident management process. While the EOC will ultimately be activated for some of these incidents, even in those cases. tele- cornmunicators are required to provide logistical and communication support to the incident as well as handle other "normal" emergency traffic. As the 800 MHz. system is implemented, we believe that in the first year 2 additional communications specialists are required and another 2 in the second year. We estimate the cost of this to be approximately $100,000 this year and another $100,000 additional next year. Third, while the Emergency Communications Center is technologically sound, some of the procedures relating to support of the fire department are comparable to those used in the 1960s. The card /notebook system for response protocols is antiquated and should be replaced. Protocols should be an integrated part of the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. We do not yet have an estimate of the cost of this project. Departments have limped along using this process for many years now and the project could begin with existing resources as available and be completed with additional project funds, possibly funded by a grant, in the second year of our planning horizon. Orange County Fire-Rescue Study Oversight Committee Preliminary Recommendations June ~, 2006 Page 4 of 5 Emergency Medical Services The EMS delivery organization is over-burdened and human resources over-worked. It is not unusual for a paramedic to work more than 80 hours in a work week and more than 320 hours in a 28 day cycle. This is well above the FLSA maximum prior to overtime of 56 hours per week and 216 hours during a 28 day cycle. Research has shown, and continuing research is confirming, that when. emergency services workers are on duty consistently more than the above standard, their mental acuity and skill functioning are compromised. Orange County has~been fortunate to have dedicated personnel ........who have been willing to work these hours. But the strain is evident and it is a matter of time before a serious lapse of judgment or less than acceptable standard of care results in a tragic outcome. We recommend several short-term actions be taken to rectify this situation. They are: - Change the work shift schedule from a four shift to a three shift rotation. - Change the 24 hour shift to a split shift arrangement of no more than 14 hours. - Increase the number of "IRV" Medics from the current 5 per shift to 8 per shift, including a shift supervisor. - Increase the number of EMTs per shift from 6 per shift to 10 per shift and the number of active on duty ambulances from 3 to 5. The operational aspects of these recommendations will be explained in detail in our final report. Note however that the change from four shifts to three will make five medics and six EMTs available for reassignment to the new shift rotation. However, this still leaves a need for four additional paramedics and six additional EMTs. This will require approximately $195,000 for paramedic compensation and approximately $252,000 for EMTs (including benefits). Our final report will note the additional personnel needed in subsequent years to meet the service delivery required throughout the planning horizon. Fire Prevention/Fire Department Support As we look at the planning projections for the growth of the County, it appears that the current Office of the Fire Marshal is understaffed to handle plan review, inspections, fire investigations, and support to the County volunteer departments. We believe 2 additional personnel are required to fulfill these functions at an adequate level for the next year and subsequent years. One position is to be allocated to plan review and inspections. The second position is to be allocated to support and coordinate the County volunteer departments. Functions include: Orange County Fire-Rescue Study Oversight Committee Preliminary Recommendations June 7, 2006 Page 5 of 5 - Assist with ISO improvement planning and implementation. - Assist with recruitment and retention plans. - Assist with grant identification and applications. - Assist with automatic aid protocols and the implementation of other mutual aid agreements. - Assist with budgeting and reporting requirements. - Coordinate purchasing, to help obtain better pricing by grouping purchasing for departments. These two positions will cost approximately $120,000 plus the cost of vehicles. Finally, we remind the Committee that these recommendations are short-term, primarily the coming year, related and do not reflect our recommendations for subsequent years in the planning horizon.