Fire cuts will increase response times

Personnel cuts of 11% in 2012 also will mean more mutual aid.

Father, son killed by train
10:04 p.m.
January home sales hit 10-year high
9:21 p.m.
State bill to aid schools has detractors
9:19 p.m.
Tech-loaded cars part of distracted driver debate
9:14 p.m.
Miami University puts regional director of admission, financial aid on paid leave
8:44 p.m.
> More headlines

By Andy Sedlak, Staff Writer 1:28 AM Sunday, December 4, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — Officials say the impact of the fire department’s 11 percent cut to personnel next year will be two-fold: EMS and fire response times will increase; and the Middletown Division of Fire will rely more than ever on neighboring agencies for assistance.

The exact degree of change is unknown, but officials have been crunching numbers.

“We’re navigating through things we’ve never seen before,” said Middletown fire Chief Steve Botts. “But so is the public we’re serving.”

Next year’s average response time could increase by 12 seconds, Botts said, when minimum staffing levels are reduced from 19 to 16 firefighters per shift. The average response time for 2011 is projected to be 4 minutes and 56 seconds. The projection for 2012 is 5 minutes and 8 seconds.

Middletown’s fire department called on assistance from neighboring fire and EMS agencies between five and 10 times a year in the early 2000s, according to Botts.

This year, it is on pace to ask for assistance about 80 times.

In 2012, the department could call on its neighbors between 160 and 240 times, Botts said, basing his numbers on past data and current trends.

“It (doesn’t change) the first call we receive because everybody’s in,” Botts said. “What’s changed is the second, third and fourth emergency. They’re coming in more frequently than ever and we have less units available.”

The Middletown Division of Fire is estimated to handle a total 10,596 calls in 2011. Botts predicts 11,225 in 2012.

City Council on Tuesday approved a 2012 general fund budget that accounts for about $3.7 million in cuts. City officials said state cuts are forcing cities to construct significantly more modest budgets. Public safety comprises more than 70 percent of the general fund and Middletown officials said the only way to alter the budget is to cut from public safety.

Officials are exploring the option of turning Station 84 on Tytus Avenue into a medic-only station. In that case, it would be absent of any fire apparatus.

A similar decision was made in 2004, when staffing was reduced by three firefighters. Station 85 on Central Avenue became designated only for medic use.

If Station 84 is also converted, two of Middletown’s five fire stations would not house fire apparatus.

Fire departments across the United States are shrinking in size, said Ken Willette, of the National Fire Protection Association.

“I don’t know what the frequency or ratio is, but I can’t point to a region and say it’s only the northeast or the west,” Willette said. “The economy has caused so many cities and towns to take a very hard look at their budgets and make large cuts ... many are impacting public safety, including the fire department.”

The NFPA is a standards-developing organization founded in 1896 that constructs voluntary, consensus-based standards and codes for usage and adoption by local governments.

Middletown’s fire department uses NFPA standards as guidelines, Botts said.

Essentially, the NFPA’s standard pertaining to response times states that a response team reach its destination in no more than six minutes 90 percent of the time.

Two studies analyzing the Middletown Division of Fire — one by the Matrix Consulting Group in 2004 and the other by Michael Schuster and Associates in 2010 — have identified sections of the city crews could not reach within that six-minute standard.

The areas, according to Botts, are north of Tytus Avenue’s Station 84 and south of Clinton Avenue’s Station 81. Next year’s cuts will add to those areas.

“We were already showing we couldn’t get 100 percent of the area,” Botts said. “This is going to further deride that capability.”

Meanwhile in Hamilton, layoffs are not expected to be announced. But that issue may have been different if not for a sizeable estate tax settlement of $6.9 million the city received this year. That’s providing a cushion for the city to absorb anticipated cost increases in the fire budget.

City Manager Joshua Smith has asked the firefighters union to find a way to cut $1.3 million out of the fire budget for next year. That means a reduction in personnel, and could mean the closing of one or possibly two, of the city’s six fire stations, said Eric Abney, Hamilton fire union president.

Hamilton firefighters have agreed in the past to give up contractual gains because of the city’s financial problems. Abney said the union has agreed to take furlough days, give up raises the past two years and have lost special pays for individuals with specialized training. Total staff has been reduced through attrition from 113 in 2007 to 110 this year, not counting two part-time fire investigators, according to city records.

The Hamilton Fire Department has already reached close to 11,000 runs this year, according to city records. The department utilizes a minimum of 28 fire and medical personnel per 24-hour shift, according to Chief Joe Schutte.

The city of Mansfield — its population of 47,000 is roughly the same size as Middletown’s — has also made cuts to its fire department for budgetary reasons, said Joe Boebel, secretary treasurer of Mansfield fire union. This year minimum staffing levels were reduced from 21 to 18 firefighters.

1 | 2 next page »

Share this article