What is the status of opening a sixth station? How much would it cost, and when would it open?
The citizens approved the bonds for Fire Station No. 6 in 2014. The city is working to secure a site for the station based on the department’s Fire Station Location Study. It will most likely be located in the area of Lake Olympia and Vicksburg boulevards. The station would not open until sometime after 2020, and the projected cost of the station and equipment is $5 million.
What are some challenges facing the fire department?
Keeping up with the growth coupled with the associated increase in demands for services while providing the services the citizens expect is the primary challenge we face. As the city grows, our response times increase and there are more calls that happen simultaneously. In addition, our mutual-aid partners are experiencing an increase demands for service, too. In turn, they are not available to assist us on structure fires or other times when we need help. Ultimately, the department needs to increase our resources to become more self-reliant and to improve our response times to emergency calls.
Finally, rapidly changing technologies require the firefighters to continually train in order to be prepared.
How are those challenges being addressed?
The department addresses these challenges through our strategic plan that is closely aligned with the city’s strategic plan. Based on this plan and other plans, we work to increase our services through the annual budgeting process. In addition, we continually research for alternate ways to provide services, such as using smaller vehicles for medical responses and modifying the fire inspector’s schedule to meet the needs of commercial development. We also work with our response partners and area fire departments to develop better ways to handle the increased demands on all of our services.
