High City Of Granbury : A Drastic Response Time Essay

Budgets have played a major role in fire departments all over the world. In the past couple of years, fire department budgets have been in the headlines quite frequently. This is especially true in Florida, where there has been much controversy in the proposal and passing of Amendment 1, in January 2008. The passing of this amendment has left many counties and cities in Florida having to cut budgets across the board, which includes the fire and EMS departments. Many departments are facing a substantial loss in their fiscal year budget which could translate

As a Firefighter in the Fire service, whether it be Structural or Wildland fire you are at liberty of choosing where you want to work and what lifestyle you want to be a part of.  Fire departments are all dedicated to maintaining the safety of the public.  Firefighters respond to all types of emergencies, in the intent to protect life and property, but having the priority of life first.     First off, I will begin discussing the pros and cons of the department that started my ambitions in the Fire service, located in my hometown Dinuba, California. Currently Dinuba Fire only has one station in the department, but is expecting another station in the next couple of years.

To better understand the background of the contrasting views, we must look at how the fire service has developed around

Volunteer fire departments everywhere have staffing problems. If you take a drive past any fire department you will probably see a volunteers needed sign. A fire chief in Pennsylvania stated “I would like to have a greater turnout of firefighters on scene than what we currently have,” he said. “We have a lack of volunteers who are able to respond during daytime hours” (Shawgo, 2014, p. 17). There are several reason that there is not as good of a turnout as there used to be. Back in the 1970s and 1980s the thing to do in town was to hang out at the fire house. There was not as much going on as there is today. People today want to spend more time with their family and go out to the movies or mini golfing, things that family’s did not do as much back in the day. The average amount of training that a volunteer must go through is about 130 hours. Most people see that as too much time to sacrifice. Also, in today’s economy many people work a second or even third job in order to make ends meet. There are also more single parent households then there used to be, which does not allow for hardly any time to volunteer. Due to the reasons stated above it is very difficult to properly staff fire trucks in volunteer departments. The average age of members continues to increase. The few people left who still find time to volunteer often work a regular job during the day, which makes day time emergency calls even harder to respond to with proper staffing. The typical fire truck holds 6

Many department, including BCoFD, are looking for different solutions to help fix this tissue. The goal of this research project is to conduct a needs assessment and provide recommendations to the Baltimore County Fire Department for an outline of a curriculum for a CP course based off the findings of the needs assessment. Extant data was collected by using inclusion and exclusion criteria requirements in the data collection tools from both ImageTrend and National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFRIS) for non-emergency calls. In 2014, BCoFD initiated a specific policy for non-emergency responses that was collected through EMED reports in ImageTrend. During that year, the number of Non-Emergency Responses came to 8,590. In 2016, non-emergency responses came to a total of 12,102, almost 3,500 calls more from 2014. As of March 30th, 2017, the total non-emergency call responses were at 3,615 and continuing to grow. Not only non-emergency calls are climbing, but the total call volume for BCoFD is increasing more and more each year. Since 2013, there has been an average of 5,705 increase calls each

On November 14, 2003, a fire was reported at the Greenhalgh Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The Pawtucket Fire Department was dispatched to the fire. One of the satellite stations, Cottage Street Fire Station, happened to be directly across the road from the old mill and could see first-hand that the fire was already fully engulfed. This fire rapidly spun out of control, destroying three mill buildings, thirteen homes, and damaging seventeen other structures before being contained. Twenty-one mutual aid departments from Rhode Island and Massachusetts were called in to assist the Pawtucket Fire Department. Looking at the article, Rhode Island and Massachusetts Units Converge on Pawtucket Mill Fire by Jay K. Bradish, from both the engine and truck company perspectives, in my opinion, the call for additional resources and an adequate supply of water were appropriately implemented, while the implementation of the Incident Command System and the accountability of fire personnel were handled improperly during this fire.

In 2012, Insurance Services Office (ISO) conducted a review of the fire suppression capabilities of the Council Bluffs (IA) Fire Department (CBFD). The resulting Public Protection Classification (PPC) was a Class 2. This classification puts the CBFD into the top 1% of the approximately 49,000 fire departments ISO reviews. In an effort to maintain the highest level of service to the public, the current fire administration has established an organizational goal of achieving a Class 1 designation.

This commission helped usher in much needed changes on the labor side, which after a few years developed into the New York State Department of Labor (aflcio.org, 2017). The fire also helped fire departments not only in New York City, but all over the Nation at that time, make changes to how they operate. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which was founded in eighteen ninety-six, declared at its annual meeting right after the fire, to all departments nation-wide, how important fire-drills were to life safety (Teague & Farr, 2009). A few years later the NFPA formed the Committee on Safety to Life to help with fire codes, regulations and departments. Several years after its development, they adopted revised specifications to fire escapes, and worked on specific regulations to exits to buildings and the Building Exit Codes (Teague & Farr, 2009). All of their work helped bring items like fire drills, egress from buildings, sprinklers, fire escapes, and other building code changes. Fire Departments all over the Nation were also helped and their eagerness to improve and update their equipment to meet the needs of a changing, and more industrialized and upward-bound Nation took full effect. Improved safety nets, ladders and equipment to reach taller buildings, more water access points and better personal safety equipment were all a result of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the efforts of the

Many people are not getting the right service because of lack of money. Police and fire department staff are suffering the consequences of shortage of money, yet this is affecting the whole communities because when there are more personnel emergency response is

Many do not know of the budget crisis going on but those that do recognize it is a major issue. These citizens that understand what is going of have begun to protest because their safety is at risk. The cuts that have been going on reduce the size of the police force which in turn brings crime rates up, and also fire departments have fewer men and unmaintained equipment to help rescue civilians. This scares many citizens into either moving to a city with a better emergency service budget or protesting to get their city’s budget raised. "I pray that nobody in this room needs the police or fire in their new future," another attendee remarked” (qtd. In Smith 5). Many citizens feel that their local governments have been focused on the wrong things. They believe that the local governments have it all wrong. One citizen quoted in Smith paragraph 6 said “the public service has to be number one.” These civilians have gone to city council meeting with petitions and protested a change. In some areas, this has led to budget renegotiations as well as contracts being

St. Louis is a city that is becoming known for its poverty and rising crime rate. With 90 municipalities and counting, these counties are being led by a corrupted government and a shady police force that is more concerned with the cash in their wallets. For determined people like Nicole Bolden and Antonio Morgan, it’s no surprise that they wish for an escape from such a destructive cycle. Even though it would be ideal, city and town members should not live in the towns they work for. Due to built up tension, specifically between the police force and the citizens, it would be dangerous to have them live there. In case there are riots over what the police have done, or over a decision a judge makes that goes against how the majority is feeling, to protect these workers they should instead live away from their area of work.

“Who you gonna call? Ghost Busters” (Brillstein & Reitman, 1984). In 1984, a very popular comedy movie “Ghostbusters” hit the big screen and this quote from the movie seemed to stick in everyone’s head. Today, the question that seems to be raised when there is a crisis or emergency situation is “Who you gonna call? The fire department”. In today’s society, the fire service has become the “catchall” for every kind of emergency. Do you agree? Fighting fire is still a big part of the fire service, “in 2015, every twenty-three seconds a fire department was responding to a fire” (NFPA (Ed.), 2015). However, the fire service has evolved from just “putting the wet stuff on the red stuff” mentality, to a profession of highly trained and skilled firefighters. Ever since the discovery of fire there has been a need for methods to manage it if, and when, it gets out of control. Throughout history, to keep up with the changing environment in which we live, civilization and the fire service have made numerous changes. With fewer fires, and more products being manufactured from plastics and other dangerous chemicals, the fire service must be vigilant in developing new methods to keep firefighters safe and justify their job while providing the most efficient service for the citizens.

According the website of The Glendale Fire Department in California, the mission of the department is to “protect life and property by providing the highest level of service to the community”. Every year millions of firefighters, and fire investigators take an oath similar to the mission of the Glendale Fire Department. For the most part, many of the people who take these oaths value their jobs and work tirelessly to uphold the missions of their departments. Unfortunately, there are also people such a John Orr, who take the same oath to protect life and property but instead use their position to cause devastation and destruction.

Fire Chief Rick Pavick gave me insight about general information related to the Texarkana, AR fire department. According to Chief Pavick, there are 57 full-time firefighters, however they are still understaffed by 16 at this time. The fires in this community is low in all categories but more house fires occur and is the primary concern. The average response time is 5 minutes on average. There is not a central water supply but there are fire hydrants. The Insurance Services Office (ISO) fire rating is a 5 for this community. The community’s low support for the department financially is related to the community not being aware of the needs of the fire department. The department does offer fire prevention education for the community and adequate

However, I believe that with the help of special interest groups and advocates speaking with representatives that with enough movement the issue can be discussed. Another major issue that may arise once there is a requirement for departments to incorporate a health and wellness is compliance. However, I feel like this was a similar challenge that was a concern when NIMS was enforced to create interoperability. Like the NIMS implementation I believe that creating a more firefighter focused fire service will be supported by enough departments that it can be successful carried out. The last obstacle that may occur is funding grants for firefighter survival training. To overcome this challenge there may need to be a change of focus in funding opportunities in the emergency services to support the betterment of those serving the communities around the