LEWISTON FIRE DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW
ORGANIZATION. The 51 full-time and 14 part-time employees are divided into four Divisions: Administration (Fire Chief, Administrative Secretary and Secretary), Suppression (Division Chief and 32 Firefighters), Emergency Medical Services (11 Paramedics and an EMT) and Prevention (Division Chief and 2 Inspectors). There are 15 personnel on duty 24 hours each day serving the public from 3 Fire Stations: Station 1 (Captain and 6 Firefighters) serves the Downtown, North Lewiston and East Lewiston; Station 2 (Captain and 3 Firefighters) serves the East Orchards; and Station 4 (Captain and 2 Firefighters) serves the Airport area, West Orchards and Elks area. The three Battalion Chiefs are located at Headquarters.
OPERATIONAL CONCEPT. Firefighters operate in teams carrying the tools and equipment needed to perform the various missions on board self-contained fire engines, ambulances and support vehicles. Firefighters function as risk managers, moving people, tools and equipment around to complete the multiple missions of the Department.
CORE VALUES. People are our most valued asset. Patient care comes first. Life takes precedence over property. Give the patient/victim/citizen the benefit of the doubt. Err on the side of caution. Send too much not too little. Practice safety all the time. Customer service is paramount.
FIRE PREVENTION. The Prevention Division provides for the life safety of the public, as well as the Firefighters. They conduct plan review and new and remodel construction inspections under the 2006 International Fire Code; conduct fire cause and arson investigations; conduct business license inspections; issue blasting permits; determine water fire flow and access requirements; operate the Juvenile Firesetter Counseling Program; enforce the IFC on commercial use of hazardous materials; and provide support to other Divisions. After new developments and remodels pass through the City review process, inspectable occupancies remain the annual inspection responsibility of this Division from that time forward. The City Code Board of Appeals may review Fire Department interpretations of the IFC but does not have authority to waive the code.
BUDGET.
The FY08 budget, out of the General Fund, is $6,084,720.00.
Personnel cost is 90% of the budget.
CROSS-TRAIN AND CROSS-STAFF. Firefighters are cross-trained to meet the various Department missions; all Department vehicles are cross-staffed. The on-duty crew takes the vehicles and tools it needs to perform the mission. Suppression and EMS Division duties include fire suppression; emergency and nonemergency ambulance service; aircraft rescue firefighting (ARFF) at the Airport; hazardous materials response; rescue and extrication; disaster response; and public education. LFD is a multi-dimension, multi-function organization. By training and equipping the same personnel to perform numerous missions, the City receives greater return on its investment in personnel. All Firefighters are certified EMS providers; all Paramedics and EMTs are Firefighters.
VEHICLES. LFD operates 7 ambulances; 5 engines; a 100-foot aerial; a rescue/extrication truck; 2 4WD grass-firefighting vehicles; a utility vehicle; an aircraft/rescue/firefighting vehicle; 30-patient Mass Casualty trailer; Public Education trailer; 2 State-owned hazardous materials trucks and 4 trailers; and 6 cars.
UNION. Firefighters, Fire Inspectors and Reserve Firefighters are represented by International Association of Firefighters Local 1773; they are affiliated with the AFL-CIO and work under a Collective Labor Agreement that is negotiated to address wages, rates of pay, working conditions, and all other terms and conditions of employment as provided by state law.
CLASS 2. Lewiston is one of two Class 2 Fire Protection cities in the state as evaluated by the Idaho Surveying and Rating Bureau; no other Idaho cities rate higher. Class 2 means reduced annual residential and commercial fire insurance premiums when compared to a Class 3.
FIRE LOSS.
Fire loss in FY07 was $1,192,080.00 - $57,000.00 in buildings inspected by
the Prevention Division.
CALL VOLUME. Since 1995, total call volume has increased by 196% – from 3,758 to 7,369 in FY07. Since 1995, ambulance call volume has increased by 211% – from 3,275 to 6,923.
AMBULANCE SERVICE. LFD has provided emergency and nonemergency ambulance service to Lewiston since 1961, and by contract to Asotin, Asotin County, Clarkston, Colton, Nez Perce County, Uniontown and the southeastern part of Whitman County. Presently, counting the Reserve force, the Department has 26 Paramedics and 33 EMTs. A Council-appointed Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board (EMSAB), created by ordinance, makes recommendations to the Council on medical service issues relating to rules and standards. Our expectation for FY07 is to collect $2 million in revenue on approximately $2.8 million in billed services.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESPONSE. LFD is the lead agency in the public-private partnership providing Level A hazardous materials emergency response to the five-county area: Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce. The State funded the North Central Emergency Response Team (ERT) with $97,000 in 1994 for three vehicles and equipment, and pays for some of the training. The State is the lead agency in cost recovery for emergency response. The City has ERT response contracts with Washington State University and the City of Pullman.
MUTUAL AID. LFD has mutual aid agreements with Asotin, Clarkston, Moscow, Potlatch Corporation and Pullman Fire Departments and with Asotin County Fire Protection District and Moscow Rural Fire District. We work closely with city, county and state law enforcement agencies in Idaho and Washington.
PROGRAMS. Department programs include Fire and Life Safety Education, First Grader Smoke Alarm Program, The Smoke Detectives K-6 curriculum in the Lewiston School District, Rapid Zap Heart Defibrillator Program, Juvenile Firesetter Counseling, Sober Graduation, Fire Prevention Week, EMS Week, Internal Quality Improvement, Urban Search and Rescue Training, Injury Prevention Coalition, Ice and Cold Water Rescue, External Physician Quality Assurance Program, Blood Pressure Monitoring, Citizen Smoke Alarm Program, Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD), Vehicle Recycling, Emergency Medical Information Cards, and a willingness of Firefighters to use their construction and computer skills to improve station living and working conditions.
THE FUTURE. Continue to deliver quality customer service; Firefighter safety and training; public education efforts with emphasis on smoke alarms; and complete the Strategic Plan.
Staffing levels are a concern from a safety as well as efficiency standpoint. During the time call volume has more than doubled, staffing has been modified through the cannibalization of other positions in our Department; this causes the Department to express grave concern about our ability to continually respond promptly to requests for emergency service. Service levels must be evaluated with Council participation to appropriately address citizen expectations so a practical plan may be implemented.
Firefighter safety will continue to be an issue for the Department – immunization for work-related diseases, fitness, annual physicals and protective equipment. Public safety issues constantly evolve, as may be observed after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC. Personnel development and succession have become important issues for the Department because we have a number of Department leaders approaching retirement.
COMMUNITY SURVEY. The 2007 Community Survey found that, when the question was posed about options to avoid increasing taxes, the respondents were fairly clear that they did not want services reduced. In fact, the Fire Department had the highest percentage to retain services at 95.5% and the lowest percentages to reduce or eliminate service at 2.1% and 1%, respectively. Previously, in the 2005 Survey, of those who actually required service, 90.9% were satisfied with response time and 100% felt Firefighters were courteous. 88% of those who had actually received emergency medical service indicated satisfaction.
The Lewiston Fire Department considers itself the City’s standing army. We can assemble nearly 20 Firefighters at a moment’s notice with another 30 Firefighters available to us from our mutual aid partners. With cross-trained and cross-staffed apparatus responding to myriad emergency and nonemergency requests, we are able to impact the lives of those calling almost immediately. We make recognition-primed decisions every day that mean the difference between life and death. Those decisions are a result of responding to thousands of calls every year that are similar in nature to those we’ve seen and acted on previously. The members of the Lewiston Fire Department recognize that its customers’ first impression may very well be their lasting impression; compassion and professionalism are the essential elements we employ with every customer contact.
WILL WHAT I DO TODAY CHANGE TOMORROW?