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CC 2018-01-09_12b PP_FCFA DirectionStaffing Transition & Phase I Implementation 1 The History The Problem The Impacts The Plan The Costs Questions Presentation Agenda 2 The History Volunteer Fire Departments Transition to Full Time Staff – Started in 2000 Reserve Firefighters – Last vestige of the volunteers What drove the original decision to transition from volunteers? I would offer that the reasons the communities decided to hire those initial Captains and Engineers were no different than what continues to face the organization… Recruitment & Retention – Dedicated community volunteers needed to find work where they could…the concept of “working in the town that you sleep in” was becoming increasingly difficult to accommodate…and consistent service levels became a significant challenge. Call Volume – past trend was 3% year over year. In 2016, calls for service increased 6%, and 2017 is trending at over 4% in increased volume. Training Requirements – Similar to what challenged the volunteers, new State Fire Marshall requirements will require a longer period of time for candidates to attain their Firefighter I certification – a requirement for employment. Aging Population – As we age, we develop more medical issues. Additionally, older residents require public assistance call response (assisting folks into their homes after a doctor appointment, lifting a loved one back into bed, dealing with a smoke detector, etc.) This has an impact on calls for service. 3 The Problem The Part-Time Reserve Firefighter position is no longer sustainable 4 The Problem Vacant Shifts / Station Closures / Service Levels 178 vacant firefighter shifts between 12/15/17 and 6/30/18 Daily Reliance on Reserve (Part Time) Firefighters: Arroyo Grande 1 Grover Beach 1 Oceano 1 (Typically a Driver/Operator) It really boils down to availability of a shrinking number of qualified part time employees. Paying a maximum of $14/hour, many of these part time employees have other employment. Full Time Employees – Ability to Mandate and Force Hire Part Time Employees – No ability (if they can make more money doing construction on their day off, they will opt for that opportunity) 5 Why? Recruitment & Retention Central Coast Cost of Living ($12-$14/hour) Boomer Retirements create opportunity at other agencies Direct/Indirect costs Consistent Service Levels NFPA ISO (Insurance Service Office) Safety Training Constraints “Endless Loop” The Central Coast is a beautiful but expensive place to live… Residency Requirement – 60 miles/60 minutes Recruitment and Retention – It’s not a Fire Department issue… POLICE DEPARTMENTS (AG & GB) “Police Trainees” – Department pays a candidate to attend law enforcement academy and then makes them a full-time employee Direct/Indirect Costs: Fire Captains/Engineers filling Firefighter shifts at Overtime rates Pre-Employment Physicals / Live Scans Overtime for training cadre Uniforms/PPE (Structural Turnouts - $4K) Consistent Service Levels: Infrequent Fire Station “Brown Outs” due to inadequate daily staffing FCFA personnel assisting patients during transport to Trauma and Cardiac specialty centers in SLO ISO Rating Improvement (2012) – Has impact on fire insurance rates. Our score is based on a daily staffing level of 8 plus 2 off-duty call-backs “Industry Standards” – NFPA 1710 - 15 personnel required to respond to residential structure fire within 10 minutes - FCFA Daily Staffing (all positions filled) 8 - Incident Commander (BC) 1 - Automatic Aid Resources *: (If available) - Pismo Beach 3 - Nipomo 2 - Battalion Chief 1 Safety: Small Pool of available employees to work open shifts - Employee Fatigue/Burnout - Increased risk of injury / Worker’s Comp Claims Community Expectations - Professional, adequately staffed public safety organization - Minimize impacts to human life and personal property Training Constraints: – Pismo Study – With constant turnover, seasoned employees are relegated to basic skills training (hose loads, ladders) instead of advanced skills training the communities expect 6 An “Industry” Trend the trend has not changed… 7 The Numbers The Reserve (Part Time) Firefighter Budget 24 hours / day x 365 days/year 8,760 hours 8,760 hours x 3 fire stations 26,280 hours 26,280 hours x $14/hr $367,920 PT Employees required (1000 hours) 27 Current Roster 6 This is how the budget is developed for the Reserve Firefighter program. It has been asked how many reserves it would take to staff the program with each employee working under 1,000 hours annually. 8 The Impacts - Financial Vacant Shifts / Station Closures / Service Levels 178 vacant firefighter shifts between 12/15/17 and 6/30/18 Reserve Firefighter Standard Rate – 24 hours $346 Reserve Firefighter Overtime Rate – 24 hours $519 Fire Engineer Overtime Rate – 24 hours $1,005 Fire Captain Overtime Rate – 24 hours $1,194 The Central Coast is a beautiful but expensive place to live… Residency Requirement – 60 miles/60 minutes Recruitment and Retention – Direct/Indirect Costs: Fire Captains/Engineers filling Firefighter shifts at Overtime rates Pre-Employment Physicals / Live Scans Overtime for training cadre Uniforms/PPE (Structural Turnouts - $4K) Consistent Service Levels: Infrequent Fire Station “Brown Outs” due to inadequate daily staffing FCFA personnel assisting patients during transport to Trauma and Cardiac specialty centers in SLO “Industry Standards” – NFPA 1710 - 15 personnel required to respond to residential structure fire within 10 minutes - FCFA Daily Staffing (all positions filled) 8 - Incident Commander (BC) 1 - Automatic Aid Resources *: (If available) - Pismo Beach 3 - Nipomo 2 - Battalion Chief 1 Safety: Small Pool of available employees to work open shifts - Employee Fatigue/Burnout - Increased risk of injury / Worker’s Comp Claims Community Expectations - Professional, adequately staffed public safety organization - Minimize impacts to human life and personal property Training Constraints: – Pismo Study – With constant turnover, seasoned employees are relegated to basic skills training (hose loads, ladders) instead of advanced skills training the communities expect 9 The Impacts - Development Development Impact Fees are collected with development. The challenge remains to adequately determine the services required to support development. WHAT ARE THE “TRUE IMPACTS?” Health Clinics, Senior Housing are examples of needed development that drive increased calls for service. 10 The Impacts – Community Threats Open Space serves as a natural and beautiful buffer between residential and commercial neighborhoods. Open Space can also create a Wildland Urban Interface challenge. Initial attack on a wildland fire will initially be to protect lives, and then property. In this photo, crews would use a Pincer Movement from the sides and make a stand at the top of the slope. Initially, this would be handled by two of our three engine companies (6 people). FCFA would rely on the remaining 2 personnel from the Oceano Station to assist them and have to rely on the arrival of automatic and mutual aid resources – of which there is no guarantee. 11 The Impacts – Community Threats All Safe Mini Storage May 11, 2007 2:09AM All Safe Mini Storage is located at 501 East Grand Avenue in Arroyo Grande. The facility is a typical self-storage configuration: Gated and secured facility with on-site manager Multiple Enclosed Storage Units of differing size configurations Steel Construction with secured doors Individual storage units are open at the ceiling, allowing cross ventilation Dispatcher advised responding units of possible trapped victim Industrial Fire – Steel Doors needed to be cut with power saws All SCBA air bottles expended – crews forced to stop work until bottles could be refilled Automatic Aid and Second Alarm was delayed – CAL FIRE working a commercial fire in Los Osos 12 The Impacts – Community Threats The Hazard Mitigation Plan lists these risks with the highest probability: Earthquake Dam Failure/Inundation Tsunami/Coastal Flooding Wildland Fire Oil and Gas Pipelines Transportation Corridors And more… 13 The Impacts – Increased Call Volume 14 The Plan FCFA Five Year Strategic Plan (adopted 9/2017) identified staffing needs for the next 5 years Board directed FCFA to initiate an “Emergency Hire” of three (3) Firefighter II (full time) positions in the current fiscal year Board members consulting with their peers for direction related to on-going funding requirements 4/1/18 – Hire three Firefighter II’s 7/1/18 – Hire three Firefighter II’s Retain Reserve Firefighter Program through transition The Strategic Plan identified staffing needs. This presentation is focused mainly on the transition from Reserve to Full Time Firefighters…there will be a need for more personnel to appropriately staff the fire department. 15 The Plan - Financial Emergency Hire of 3 Firefighters* $75,000 Fill remaining 88 vacant shifts (Engineers) $88,440 Estimated Operating Budget Overage $352,419 Fund Balance** $381,288 * Assuming April 1, 2018 start date ** Includes over $55,000 for vehicle replacement The Central Coast is a beautiful but expensive place to live… Residency Requirement – 60 miles/60 minutes Recruitment and Retention – Direct/Indirect Costs: Fire Captains/Engineers filling Firefighter shifts at Overtime rates Pre-Employment Physicals / Live Scans Overtime for training cadre Uniforms/PPE (Structural Turnouts - $4K) Consistent Service Levels: Infrequent Fire Station “Brown Outs” due to inadequate daily staffing FCFA personnel assisting patients during transport to Trauma and Cardiac specialty centers in SLO “Industry Standards” – NFPA 1710 - 15 personnel required to respond to residential structure fire within 10 minutes - FCFA Daily Staffing (all positions filled) 8 - Incident Commander (BC) 1 - Automatic Aid Resources *: (If available) - Pismo Beach 3 - Nipomo 2 - Battalion Chief 1 Safety: Small Pool of available employees to work open shifts - Employee Fatigue/Burnout - Increased risk of injury / Worker’s Comp Claims Community Expectations - Professional, adequately staffed public safety organization - Minimize impacts to human life and personal property Training Constraints: – Pismo Study – With constant turnover, seasoned employees are relegated to basic skills training (hose loads, ladders) instead of advanced skills training the communities expect 16 The Plan Current Fiscal Year Implementation Source: FCFA Strategic Plan – September 2017 * Reserve Firefighter retained to support transition to FTE’s through 6/30/2019 ** Hire Fire Engineers for Station 3 (Oceano) *** Create succession planning for Battalion Chief (7/18) and add one BC position (7/20) Again, this timeline identifies suppression staffing needs. It does not take into account the needs for administrative and fire prevention staff. The Fire Engineer need for the Oceano Station…part of a larger discussion? 17 The Cost Costs are estimates only, based on percentage allocations from current operating budget. 18 Questions? 19 The Plan Will have this at the end of the presentation should the org chart be requested. 20