Update
Questions & Facts
Nederland: We Have a Problem
by
To read "Nederland: We Have a Problem" click here
Below is an update to an editorial I titled "Nederland: We Have a Problem". Be warned there is alot of information below. My idea is not to relocate the current FD and PD. My idea is to build a substation for each departments to reduce response time to the northern city limits. I'm told the City of Nederland is not interested in a bond issue.
1. How many minutes should it take for a local fire department respond to a scene?
In evaluating a community's public fire protection, ISO considers the distribution of fire companies. Generally, ISO's criteria say that a built-upon area of a community should have a first-due engine company within 1.5 road miles of the protected properties and a ladder-service company within 2.5 road miles.
Those benchmark criteria produce an expected response time of 3.2 minutes for an engine company and 4.9 minutes for a ladder-service company, based on a formula developed by the RAND Corporation.
RAND conducted extensive studies of fire department response times. They concluded that the average speed for a fire apparatus responding with emergency lights and siren is 35 mph. That speed considers average terrain, average traffic, weather, and slowing down for intersections.
Taking into account the average speed and the time required for an apparatus to accelerate from a stop to the travel speed, RAND developed the following equation for calculating the travel time:
T = 0.65+1.7D
where
T = time in minutes to the nearest 1/10 of a minute
0.65 = a vehicle-acceleration constant for the first 0.5 mile traveled
1.7 = a vehicle-speed constant validated for response distances ranging from 0.5 miles to 8.0 miles.
D = distance
ISO, working with several fire departments, recently conducted its own review of the formula and found the earlier RAND work still valid as a predictive tool.
In our analysis of company distribution, ISO does not measure or use actual historical response times of individual communities. Many fire departments lack accurate and reliable response-time information, and there is no standardized national recordkeeping system that would allow us to determine accurate departmental response times.
Also, it would be inappropriate to incite fire service personnel to push fire apparatus beyond a safe driving speed for the sake of faster response times, especially since U.S. Fire Administration statistics for 2005 indicate that 17 percent of firefighter on-duty fatalities resulted from responding to alarms.
2. In a city with a population of almost 18,000 how many stations should that city have?
The number of needed engine companies is based upon the maximum number of engine companies needed for:
Basic Fire Flow (BFF)
Distribution
Operations
No. 1 * Basic Fire Flow
The FSRS clearly defines in Item 510.A how to determine the number of needed engine companies due to the Basic Fire Flow (BFF) for a single community. When a fire department also serves areas outside the community, the number of engine companies needed by BFF is based upon the needed fire flows for the entire protected (Class 8 or better) area served.
No. 2 * Distribution
Measure distribution by:
Evaluation of existing engine company station locations must be done in the following order and with the following specific and general guidelines:
1. Excess Travel Distance by Existing Engine Company Locations
Any current engine company location that is located in such a way that the elimination of the existing location would create areas that would be over 5 road miles from another existing engine company location must be considered as existing and needed at the location it is located currently.
This is necessary for the reason that the protection class or split protection class that is developed for the graded area will be applicable to all areas within 5 road miles of all existing engine company fire stations.
2.Determination of Standard Response District (SRD)
A standard response district for engine companies is the maximum number of hydrants within 1 1/2 miles of an existing or proposed, well-located engine company in the city being graded. The Standard Response District in cities with multiple engine company locations is the average number of hydrants served by the existing engine companies as determined by the total of hydrants within 1 1/2 mile areas divided by the number of engine company locations.
Consideration may be given for excluding relatively low number hydrant stations as described below.
Relatively low number of hydrants within 1 1/2 mile area of existing engine company location
Any engine company location that has relatively significantly lower number of hydrants compared with the overall average for other engine company locations may be evaluated for consideration of being excluded from the calculation of the SRD * even though the engine company location is required at the current site due to Excess Travel Distance as specified under Excess Travel Distance by Existing Engine Company Locations section.
The decision to exclude an engine company location from the SRD analysis is based on the actual number of hydrants in the total group of engine company station locations and the average mix. Generally, engine company locations with hydrants within 1 1/2 miles of the station that total less than 15% of the total preliminary average of all engine company locations in the graded area or less than 8 hydrants can be considered for exclusion from the final calculation of the SRD, so as to not adversely affect the SRD result.
If excluded from the final SRD analysis calculation, the station can be considered for relocation to a well located needed location, provided the existing station location is not needed by Method of Operation or Excess Travel Distance criteria as defined.
3.Overlapping Engine Company 1 1/2 Mile Response Areas
Where the 1 1/2 mile response district boundary line of one engine company station location overlap with one or more other existing engine company locations 1 1/2 mile boundary lines, analysis should be made to evaluate which engine company location should have the maximum 1 1/2 mile extension of the boundary lines and which shall have less than the maximum 1 1/2 mile extension of the boundary line to determine if a location would result in a relatively low number of hydrants for any resulting smaller evaluated area.
Review of individual specific factors for the district (such as dead-end streets or highways and rivers that are not passable except at limited points) are taken into account when evaluating the 1 1/2 mile distribution area and possible additional locations.
4.General Distribution Study Factors
a.) Distances must be measured by accessible roadway, not as "the crow flies", or with a radius or rectangle.
b.) In a graded area where the Standard Response District is less than 16 hydrants, limit the number of additional needed engine company locations to the maximum number needed by BFF or operations, whichever is greater. This procedure is to limit the number of additional needed engine company locations when there are very low number of hydrants or widely spaced hydrants. The count of 16 hydrants represents the approximate number of hydrants that would be within 1 1/2 miles of a fire station located at the intersection of two perpendicular streets with hydrants spaced about 2000 feet apart. Buildings located along the streets would be within 1000 feet of a hydrant.
Exception: When only one engine company is needed by Basic Fire Flow, a second needed engine company location shall be required by calculating an area at 50% of a Standard Response District (SRD), regardless of the number of hydrants within the SRD.
NOTE: In all cases, there is no limitation to the number of any engine company fire station locations needed due to EXCESS TRAVEL DISTANCE, which as defined must be located at existing locations to provide the graded class or split class to areas within 5 road miles from the existing fire station location.
c.) The FSRS clearly defines in Item 510 B how to determine the number of additional engine company locations needed by distribution within a single community or graded area. When a fire department also serves protected areas outside of the community or graded area, the number of additional engine company locations needed by distribution is based upon the entire protected areas served.
d.) When any area beyond 1 1/2-miles of an engine company equals 50% or more of a standard response district an additional engine company may be needed.
e.) Whenever the number of existing engine company locations plus the number of additional needed engine company locations exceeds the number of engine companies needed for the BFF, then the need by distribution of each existing engine company location should be evaluated. Consider the need for each existing engine company location one station at a time. An existing engine company location is needed when, if it did not exist, a station would be needed by distribution in its vicinity.
f.) The total number of engine companies needed by Distribution is the number of needed existing engine company locations plus the number of additional needed engine company locations.
g.) An engine company whether needed or not needed by Distribution must still be evaluated on the basis of Method of Operations. For example, only one engine company is needed in each fire station location when the number of needed engine companies is based on Distribution.
However, if any fire station has more than one staffed engine company, but any engine company that:
responds on first alarm structure fires to only certain portions of that fire station response area or the district as a single or one of only two engine companies while another staffed engine in the same station responds to other areas within the station response area or district; or
is part of a two-piece engine company; or
is a special response company requiring it be at the location assigned; i.e.; special foam equipped engine for response to an airport or refinery, in addition to structure fire responses; requires that such an engine company shall be considered as needed by Method of Operations at the location housed.
The analysis and possible modification of the Standard Response District and the total number of engine company locations by Distribution must consider all of the items listed above.
No. 3 * Operations (Response)
a) The standard response on the 1st alarm for a reported fire in a building is 2 engine companies (except when only 1 engine company is needed by BFF); and a ladder or a service company.
b) When the existing number of in-service pumpers exceeds the number of engine companies needed by BFF and by distribution and:
1.Three or more pumpers respond to some 1st alarms for fires in building.
or
2.Two or more pumpers are in a station and none of these pumpers are needed elsewhere to satisfy a distribution need.
Each pumper should be evaluated to determine if it can be considered as a ladder or service company, part of the multiple-piece engine company, an extra pumper, or a surplus engine company.
c) The minimum number of engine companies needed by operation shall be 2 except when only 1 is needed by BFF.
Number of Needed Engine Companies:
The actual number of needed engine companies within a community (protected area) is the highest number of those needed by BFF, or by distribution or by operations. Additional engine companies may be needed according to Item 510.C of the FSRS due to insufficient apparatus remaining in the community during responses outside the protected area
0 comments:
Post a Comment