In a city with a rapidly rising population and major highways, the Round Rock Fire Department stays busy. By keeping track of its calls and performance numbers, RRFD is using data to not only improve its response to emergencies, but also to prevent them from happening in the first place.

RRFD Assistant Chief Billy Wusterhausen is the department’s “guru of data,” according to Chief Robert Isbell.

“I don’t think there are a lot of fire departments that play with data as much as we do,” Isbell said.

Using data provided by dispatchers and responding firefighters, Wusterhausen creates spreadsheets and organizes data so that the department is able to identify trends both across the city and narrowed down to individual neighborhoods. The department is then able to determine its response times, identify areas of high call volume and trends in calls it is receiving. With that information, the department can then plan how best to respond.

“It’s a never-ending story because the more we dig [into the data], the more we find,” Isbell said.

Isbell said RRFD tries to identify upticks in incidents early enough to set a solution in motion.

“We can’t just wait to be reactive; we have to be able to identify those things and respond,” Isbell said.

One of the major items the department watches for in its data is the source of calls. Isbell said that most of the department’s calls are from senior living facilities. In response the department has started outreach to senior centers to encourage fire safety and identify
fall hazards.

The department also analyzes its response times to identify delays and ways in which it can continue to improve. It will focus on individual neighborhoods to see which units are responding to calls and ensure that staffing is appropriate for the area. For example, if a high volume of calls is routinely coming in at a particular time, the department will avoid scheduling shift changes around that time.

Isbell said the department also maps response times, giving it the ability to see areas in which the response time is falling behind. Identifying these areas allowed the department to determine where new stations are needed. Isbell said response times have improved in the year since RRFD opened Station 9, which opened off of Sam Bass Road in May 2017.

The construction of Station 9, which was funded by the 2013 bond, was pushed forward by the project at I-35 and Old Settlers Boulevard, Isbell said. With the traffic restrictions associated with the project, the department knew that its ability to get to northwest Round Rock would be difficult.

During the nighttime hours, Station 7 is able to quickly respond to northwest Round Rock via the FM 1431 bridge. During the daytime, however, heavy traffic delays response time. Station 9 helped improve the department’s ability to respond to the area, Isbell said, but the department is exploring the northwest area as a possible location of the next fire station.

The city is also looking into relocating Station 3 using 2013 bond funds for the purchase of land, design and construction. A new location has not been determined.

“We are always looking at what is the most effective and efficient way of being able to provide services,” Wusterhausen said. “It all comes back to making Round Rock a great place to live, work and play.”