TOWN OF FRIDAY HARBOR FIRE

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Friday Harbor Fire Chief Bob Low's memo

May 6, 2002,
Re: Staffing of District 3 First Response engine
To whom it may concern:

How do we stage an engine with one or two peple on it? Do we put it in an attack position and hope enough people show up in time to staff it? If they don't we have a engine blocking where the attack engine whould go.

What if three people show up where do we put it then. We don't have enough for two in and two out as required by WAC 296.305.05001 subsection 8 through 11. By requiring a full engine of four we know when we hear over the radio that they're in route we have four people coming and can put that engine anywhere we need it.

If they are not the first arriving engine it doesn't cause as much of a problem. When they send a full engine on a first response and they announce over the radio that they are in route then the rest of District 3 firefighters should know they don't need to leave their jobs because we already have a full first alarm response without this we have everyone that can, responding in their cars for a first alarm fire when they don't need to. Also we don't have the added burden of where to put everyone's car because it's already going to be a traffic problem.

These are the same reasons we require Town firefighters to report to the station and not in their POV. I know in district 3 they do it that way as they should but this does not work well in town, my officers and I are convinced this is the right way to respond for the Town of Friday Harbor and its people.

In 1999 District 3 average response time in town was 16 minutes. In 2000 it was 16.75, in 2001 it was 15 minutes, however in 2002 the two calls they came to in town were four minutes and six minutes on these same calls we made it in one minute later on the first one and the same time on the second.

So if they respond with one person on the engine it might arrive one to two minutes earlier but we won't be able to take a hydrant or be put into service until more people arrive from District 3.

And also of note is that when our engines arrived one minute later and at the same time, we had six people on each engine.

The final analysis is that District 3 has improved response time dramatically from approximately 15 minutes to four to six minutes however by allowing an understaffed engine to roll and arrive at the most one to two minutes earlier does not increase our ability to fight a fire when we still have to wait for an undetermined time for enough personnel to arrive in their own POV to have the minimum number of people required.

Robert Low
Town of Friday Harbor Fire Chief

Councilmember Howard Rosenfeld memo

As your former fire chief I see an issue that potentialy puts Town residents and firefighters at greater risk, specifically response time for the District 3, first alarm engine.

Requiring the District 3 engine to wait until four firefighters are aboard before it responds:

• Could result in significant delay, especially at night and on weekends. By significant I see anything more than one minute as something that could make a difference in rescuing a resident or protecting our firefighters. At 3 a.m. this requirement could delay response many minutes.
  
  
• District 3 volunteers respond differently than Town volunteers. They keep their bunker gear in their car and respond personal vehicle (POV) directly to the scene where they meet the engine. This Town requirement forces them to conform to a policy they disagree with, runs counter to their usual procedures and adds to the ill will between the departments.
  
  
• Having four firefighters on board during transit serves little purpose. Establishing the four firefighter engine company at the scene in the fastest time is the issue.
  
  
• District 3 policy is an engine can respond as soon as it has two firefighters. If an engine with two arrives before additional personnel they can still take a hydrant, provide water into hose lines, operate exterior hose streams, establish scene lighting, and other support functions. In case of imminent life threat, a team of three firefighter team can operate.
  
  
• The Incident Command System (ICS) provides for firefighter operation and safety however they arrive at the scene. Arriving POV creates no additional firefighter safety issues as long as ICS is observed.
  
  
• If Town command insists on a four firefighter company they can order the engine to stage until a complement of four arrive. At least the engine will be on scene if needed and not sitting at the district fire station. If it was your house on fire which would you prefer.
  
  

We need only remember the 1998, 3 a.m. Sandpiper fire for an example. Around half of the Town firefighters just happened to be off island that night. We even lacked a pump operator for Engine 6, our first-in engine. Our other engine didn't have a crew for quite a while. We were way overwhelmed until District 3 engines and personnel started to arrive. Seconds literally counted. We were able to save quite a lot more of the structure and possessions than I initially thought possible.

Howard Rosenfeld
Friday Harbor Town Council