Agendas and Minutes

City Council (View All)

Study Session

Agenda
Monday, April 20, 2009

MINUTES FOR CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
Monday, April 20, 2009
Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way

Mayor Stromberg called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

Councilor Navickas, Lemhouse, Voisin, Silbiger and Chapman were present. Councilor Jackson was absent.

1. Discussion regarding Standards of Cover for Ashland Fire and Rescue.
Interim Fire Chief Larry Langston explained the history of the Standards of Cover template and that it is now an appendix to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1710 Standards.

He introduced Captain EMT-P Scott Hollingsworth and both provided a presentation that included:

  • Ashland Fire & Rescue (AF&R) - Standards of Cover 2009
    1. Community Baselines - Existing and Proposed Staffing
    2. Risk Assessment
    3. Critical Task Analysis
    4. Establishing Objectives
    5. Response Reliability
    6. Summary
  • History of fire in Ashland - Ashland Wildfire 1959
  • Geography
  • Ambulance Service Areas
  • Existing Deployment - Current Staffing - 7 Firefighters
  • Proposed Staffing - 6-7 Firefighters most shifts
  • Calls for Service Chart - In 2008 there was 3,418 calls for service: 86% EMS, 14% Fire

Captain Hollingsworth explained the Fire Department sends an ambulance and fire truck on a call to ensure there are remaining ambulances and fire trucks available for the next call.

  • Risk Assessment
    1. Risk Assessment Model
    2. Risks by Type include Structure Fire, EMS, Wildland Fire and Technical Rescue. Technical Rescue is not funded and the City will use the District 3 Technical Rescue Team as a resource once they are trained.
  • Risk Assessment Model - Events are categorized into four Risk Levels:
    1. Maximum Risk - the Conflagration Act could be initiated for this level of risk and the State would cover fire-fighting costs.
    2. Significant Risk - theaters, hotel, downtown corridor.
    3. Moderate Risk - residential fires.
    4. Low Risk - shed fires, minor auto accidents.

Captain Hollingsworth clarified the downtown area was not considered maximum risk because the City has a good water supply. Southern Oregon University dormitories did not have sprinkler systems but the available water supply classified them as a significant risk on the edge of maximum risk.

  • Risk Assessment Model - Essential resource considerations of Risk Levels is Distribution and Concentration
  • Map showing the boundary for a 5 minute drive time from Station 1 and 2
  • Table of the City of Ashland's Existing Structures the Fire Department Protects
  • EMS Risk: 86% of all calls are EMS
  • Wildland Risk - Ashland Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Map
  • Technical Rescue Risk
  • Critical Task Analysis
  • Structure Fires
    1. Low Risk - Requires 4 Firefighters and someone to manage the situation.
    2. Moderate Risk - Requires 12 Firefighters - Ashland has 7 Firefighters with support from Jackson County 5 as needed. Once there are more than     2 crews working a situation, a Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) is required as back up.
    3. Significant & Maximum Risk - Requires 26 Firefighters - Ashland is not staffed to deploy that number but could have that force within 30 minutes     by accessing the Alarm Matrix set up through out the Valley.
    4. EMS Responses - The Dispatch Center uses a software program to determine requirements needed for specific calls.
  • EMS - Mass Casualty Incident (MCI): An MCI is any incident where 5 or more patients are anticipated to be transported for treatment.
  • Small Wildland Fires - 7 Firefighters
  • Large Wildland Fires
  • Technical Rescue Table
  • Establishing Objectives
    1. The Elements of Response Time
    2. Dynamics of Fire Growth and Flashover - Objective #1
    3. EMS Benchmarks - Objective #2
  • Elements of Response Time - NFPA Fire Standards & Jackson County Ambulance Service Area (ASA) Standards
  • Time vs. Products of Combustion
  • Dynamics of Fire Growth & Flashover
  • Fire Response Objective #1: AF&R will respond to 90% of all fire suppression calls inside the City of Ashland with a response time of 5 minutes or less.
  • Fire Response Objective - 2008 Fire Response Goal
  • EMS Benchmarks - Patient Survivability with Early Defibrillation
  • EMS Benchmarks - Zone and Response Standards
  • EMS Response Objective #2: AF&R will provide emergency medical services to 90% of patients within ASA time standards.
  • EMS Response Objective & Goal
  • Response Reliability - Multiple Alarms
  • Summary

City Administrator Martha Bennett explained Discretionary Immunity was defined as a defense against litigation because it prioritizes situations where there are more problems than funds and provides a plan to address those issues. City Attorney Richard Appicello added that Insurance Defense thought the Standards of Cover were an honest appraisal of what the City was capable of doing.

Chief Langston clarified there is no charge for the 20%-25% of calls received outside of the City if it is within a Mutual Aid Boundary with the exception of EMS calls where citizens pay for ambulance services. The ambulance service collects approximately $710,000 a year in fees with the City paying for a portion of the EMS calls.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:31 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Dana Smith
Assistant to the City Recorder

 

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