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Home My WebLink AboutCC 2026-05-26_11a FCFA Risk Assessment_PPFive Cities Fire Authority Standards of Cover & Community Risk Assessment In February 2023 the FCFA received an Analysis of Fire Services from the consulting firm Baker Tilley. This report had a number of recommendation one of which was conducting a Community Risk Assessment and Standards of Cover Analyisis. In July of 2024 the Board approved the RFP for the consulting services and in October of 2024 the consulting contract was awarded to AP Triton. Tonight, we are here to go over some of those findings and recommendations of the CRA and SOC. 1 PURPOSE & OVERVIEW AP Triton focused on the period from 2019-2024. I have also included more recent data from 2025 as well as comparative data with other agencies in SLO County. Typical standards referenced are from NFPA and most of the analysis will reference 90 percentile which provides a much more accurate reflection of system reliability vs averages which can paint a more optimistic picture of performance. 2 Prepare for the Future Service Demand Increases State Housing Law Impacts – Multi Family and ADU Commercial and Mixed - Use Developments Capital Improvement Planning – Facilities / Apparatus Workload Capacity Response Performance – Effective Response Force and Response Time Service demands continue to increase as you will see later in our year over year increases in call volume. These are driven by a number of local, regional, and statewide issues. 24% of FCFA population is over 65 vs. the State average of 17% It is estimated that between Lompoc and Paso Robles we are short approximately 140 primary care providers. This drives up emergency response as many patients wait too long to seek care and then require EMS response. We continue to see higher density housing driven by the Housing Crisis which will impact our deployment model. Workload capacity – commitment time to incidents – community risk reduction with no prevention staff has an impact at all levels of the organization. Response Performance – value driven response model that ensures an effective response force for Fire Risk which are lower frequency higher consequence incidents and non fire risk – EMS / Vehicle Accidents where speed and agility to respond in a cost- effective manner. 65% of calls in 2025 were classified as Rescue or EMS Calls. 3 FCFA Member Agency Development Pipeline Arroyo Grande Creekside Junction Frederick’s Property West Branch – Kamla Hotel Saruwatari Property Grover Beach Encore - 401 West Grand Trinity – 197 West Grand Peak Wifi - 305 Long Branch La Quinta - 1598 El Camino Real We should view the development pipeline as both a challenge and opportunity. They will expand calls for service but can also serve as an economic springboard to support public safety improvements as we have seen in other SLO County Communities. 4 Budget vs. Responses 5,214 Responses Graph on left Current FCFA Budget support percentages with the County contract for OCSD. Not that the JPA Agreement specifies a 58/42 percent cost share without the county contract. 2025 Call volume by agency. Note the surrounding areas is mostly represented by calls for service in SLO County unincorporated areas and Pismo Beach. 5 INCIDENT HEAT MAP South Elm and Farroll corridor = incident hotspots. Top Incident locations correlate with the Population over 65 index which is slightly higher than the state averages 24% vs 17% 6 The NFPA 1710 Standard: The first defined travel time is the time it takes for the first unit, either an engine or a truck, to operate as an engine is 4 minutes. Figure 96: FCFA 4-Minute Predicted Travel Based on NFPA 1710 most of our response areas is within a 4 minute travel time. Unfortunately its not where we have the highest concentration of calls and arguably greatest life risk in the event of a fire. 7 For full credit in an ISO Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). Any building within the jurisdiction should be within 1.5 miles of an engine company and 2.5 miles of a truck company. In January, the Insurance Services Office completed our ISO, FCFA remained an ISO rating of 2 which will be effective May 01, 2026. The Measurement include: - Needed Fire Flow - Emergency Communications - Fire Department (deployment) - Water Supply Figure 80: 1.5 Mile Travel Distance from Staffed Stations Although the standards of cover identify service area gaps within the 1.5 mile travel distance we still scored quite well in the ISO survey 8 The Insurance Services Office (ISO), which assesses fire protection capabilities for communities, considers aerial apparatus placement a key part of its rating system. ISO recommends that all buildings three stories or taller—or over 35 feet high—be within a 2.5-mile road distance of a ladder truck. This proximity helps ensure a prompt response for critical fireground tasks, including victim rescue, high-angle ventilation, and elevated fire attack. For departments aiming to improve their ISO rating and provide adequate life safety and property protection, strategic placement and staffing of aerial apparatuses are essential, especially in areas with increasing vertical development. Additionally, buildings three or more stories are in the planning and/or construction process in both communities. 9 MULTIPLE INCIDENT RESPONSE (2025) FCFA has a 16% chance of running multiple incidents at the same time. 10 Figure 93: Turnout Time by Year & Grouping (2019–2024) Response Time includes turnout and travel time. 90 percentile. 90 percentile is used because the metrix can easily trend to the left or the right when using mean data or average data. 11 Figure 93: Turnout Time by Year & Grouping (2019–2024) Slight increase in 2025 data vs. 2019-2024 data for all calls was likely related to the Traffic Way Bridge Project. . 12 Figure 93: Turnout Time by Year & Grouping (2019–2024) NFPA Turnout standard is 60 seconds for EMS response and 80 seconds for fire response. No distinction for time of day. 13 Figure 93: Turnout Time by Year & Grouping (2019–2024) 20255,214 14 Figure 93: Turnout Time by Year & Grouping (2019–2024) This slide illustrates average commitment time at an incident. Depending on the severity of a call it does not account for the time to place an engine back in service or restocking of equipment and or supplies. 15 Figure 93: Turnout Time by Year & Grouping (2019–2024) NFPA 1710 STANDARDS FCFA has 9 on duty daily and can receive between 5-7 personnel on our auto aid response first alarm response. We just barely meet the NFPA deployment standards on a single family dwelling fire with the assumption that our automatic aid resource are readily available. Any larger fire response requires a second alarm. Frequently we must augment our response which typically adds SLO City to the dispatch. 16 Fire Department Organizational Structure Note that not all three companies are staffed with 3 personnel. The Baker Tiller Study and the AP Trition Analysis have identified adding the third person to the third engine company. 17 Figure 93: Turnout Time by Year & Grouping (2019–2024) Local Comparison Chart on the left illustrates that although we don’t have the largest geographical response area we are one of the busiest departkments per sq. mile Chart on the right once again busiest per firefighter in the county 18 Figure 93: Turnout Time by Year & Grouping (2019–2024) Local Comparison This comparison illustrates FCFA is one of the lowest staffed departments per capita population. Graph does not include On duty Battalion Chief Our total overall staffing per 100 population excluding the Battalion Chief’s is .63 FF/1000 NFPA guidance on populations over 25,000 staffing rates range between .84 and 1.3 firefighters per 1000 19 Recommendations 20 A Strategic Approach to Implementation Strategic Plan Timeline Completed CRA / SOC Completed Internal Survey Completed Community Survey Fire Board Presentation April 20 Grover Beach Council Presentation May 11 Arroyo Grande Council Presentation May 26 Present the Draft Strategic Plan at the July 20 FCFA Board Meeting / Public Workshop Present Final Strategic Plan October FCFA Board Meeting 21 Questions and Recommendations for Staff 22