2016 Annual Report
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 1 Message from the Fire Chief
This 2016 Annual Report provides you with an overview of the many accomplishments achieved by the Vacaville Fire Department. It highlights significant events, and reports various performance and financial statistics. The Vacaville Fire Department has a rich history and has proudly served the community for over 120 years but in 2016, we had several milestone events. Through it all, we strived to carry out our mission, “to reduce the impact of emergencies in a caring and competent manner.” Our people did that daily through prevention, education, and emergency response.
The Vacaville Fire Department grew significantly in 2016 by adding Fire Station 75 in South Town. The addition of this station means three additional firefighters on duty every day protecting our community – for a total of 22. Although, financial constraints kept one medic unit browned out, it was moved from Station 73 to Station 75. This was done to better meet the needs of the community by reducing response times to the highest risk areas. We are hopeful to return Medic 75 to full-staffed status in 2017.
For the first time in our long history, the Vacaville Fire Department responded to 10,000 incidents in 2016. This was a 5.9% increase from 2015 but in the last five years, there has been a 25.3% increase in calls for service. There has been a similar growth in the number of emergency medical incidents – keeping our ambulances extremely busy. In fact, it was not uncommon in 2016 where all four of our ambulances were transporting patients at the same time. We expect to see a steady increase in our responses as the City grows.
There was significant change in the command staff in 2016 due to retirements. Deputy Chief Phil Sanner and Battalion Chief Jeff Ryder both retired after distinguished 26-year careers. Deputy Chief Alan Hartford was hired, and Gary Mahlberg and Alex Nourot were both promoted to the rank of battalion chief. Congratulations to our other retirees: Captain Eric Wilson and Firefighter Mike Martinez.
The Vacaville Fire Department also took delivery of two new apparatus in 2016 – a truck and an engine. The long-awaited truck was placed in service in November and it was moved from Station 71 to Station 74 on Alamo Drive. The new engine was placed into service in October at Station 71 on Orchard Avenue. Much thought was put into strategic placement of the new apparatus where we felt they would best meet the needs of our community.
Indeed, 2016 was another successful year. Whether it was helping those less fortunate in our community, providing life safety educational programs to an array of individuals and groups, consulting with developers on planned construction projects, helping our residents and business owners remain compliant with our City’s municipal code, carefully managing the money entrusted to us by the taxpayers, or doing our absolute best to assist our neighbors during an emergency – the members of the Vacaville Fire Department proudly and unselfishly serve the nearly 96,000 people in our community as well as those that visit our beautiful city.
As always, we strived to make this report as comprehensive as possible but if you do not find what you are looking for, please let us know.
Respectfully,
Kristian Concepcion, Fire Chief
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 2 Mission, Values, and Goals
Department Mission Statement
Reducing the impact of emergencies in a competent and caring manner.
Our Core Values: The Vacaville HILLS
Honesty Integrity Leadership Loyalty Superior Service
Department Goal Statements
Ensure prompt, appropriate response to emergency incidents.
Recruit, hire, and retain only the best people and support them through development and maintenance of their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Deliver fire and life safety programs to all segments of the community.
Gain fire code compliance in partnership with others.
Determine the causes of fires by thoroughly investigating them.
Provide and maintain high quality apparatus and equipment in well designed, strategically-located fire stations.
Photo by Joel Rosenbaum, the Vacaville Reporter City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 3 Leadership Fire Department Staff and Managers
Kristian Concepcion Alan Hartford Fire Chief Fire Deputy Chief
Alex Nourot Matt Lage Gary Mahlberg Battalion Chief (A Shift) Battalion Chief (B Shift) Battalion Chief (C Shift)
Jill Childers Lluvica Altamirano Sheryl Williams Fire Prevention Management Analyst Administrative Assistant Bureau Manager City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 4
Organization Organizational Chart
Office of the Fire Chief/ Fire Marshal Kris Concepcion
Management Analyst (1) Administrative Assistant (1)
Senior Administrative Clerk (1)
Administrative Clerk (1)
DEPUTY CHIEF EMS PROGRAM SUPPORT
OPERATIONS TRAINING Fire Prevention Bureau Manager (1)
OPS A OPS B OPS C Fire Training Code Enforcement Fire Prevention VCERT Battalion Chief Battalion Chief Battalion Chief Captain (1) (1) (1) (1)
Code Enforcement Fire Plans Examiner/ 5 Stations 5 Stations 5 Stations Technician Inspector Captain (5) Captain (5) Captain (5) (3) (1)
Engineer & Engineer & Engineer & Fire Prevention Engineer/PM (5) Engineer/PM (5) Engineer/PM (5) Specialist (2)
Firefighter & Firefighter & Firefighter & Firefighter/PM Firefighter/PM Firefighter/PM Fire Safety (13) (13) (12) Coordinator (1) City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 5 Facilities Fire Stations and Administrative Headquarters
Administration Station 71 650 Merchant Street 111 South Orchard Avenue 707-449-5452 Built: January 10, 1996 Administration – Prevention Bureau – Training 2016 Unit responses: 4,480
Station 72 Station 73 2001 Ulatis Drive 650 Eubanks Court Built: February 3, 1989 Built: February 5, 1988 2016 Unit responses: 6,635 2016 Unit responses: 1,343
Station 74 Station 75 1850 Alamo Drive 111 Cogburn Circle Built: January 1, 1994 Built: May 16, 2016 2016 Unit responses: 5,345 2016 Unit responses: 793
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 6 Station 75
After a 15-month construction process, Vacaville Fire Station 75 opened its doors on May 16, 2016. The department held a grand opening ceremony on June 15, 2016 that was attended by approximately 300 people. Station 75 is staffed with three personnel every day: a fire captain, an engineer, and a firefighter/paramedic. The crew responds on a 2015 Pierce fire engine. Along with the fire engine, Station 75 also houses a Type 3 (wildland) engine and a medic unit. Since the medic unit is browned-out, the crew currently cross-staffs the three apparatus depending upon the emergency. From the day it opened to the end of the year, Station 75 responded to 793 emergencies in 2016.
Station 75 serves the South Town neighborhood of Vacaville. The station has been long awaited by the community as it provides much needed service in the south part of Vacaville where significant growth is occurring.
The Station 75 project cost was around $7 million, which included the cost of the construction as well as the two engines that are housed at the station.
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 7 Fleet 2017 Apparatus Deliveries
The Vacaville Fire Department took delivery of two new apparatus in 2016 – a truck and an engine. Truck 74 was placed into service in November at Station 74 on Alamo. It is a specialized piece of equipment that has a 105-foot aerial ladder to reach even the tallest buildings in Vacaville. It is also equipped with a 275-gallon water tank and a small pump so it can be first-in on small fires. The cost of the truck was a little over $1 million and is expected to remain in service for 15 to 20 years.
Engine 71 is a 2016 Pierce and went into service at Station 71 in October. Engine 71 replaces a 2004 KME. It has a 600-gallon tank and its pump can provide up to 1,500 gallons per minute. The emblem on the rear doors is a replica of the original logo on the first engine purchased by the City of Vacaville exactly 100 years ago in 1916. Engine 71 cost approximately $625,000 and is expected to be in service 10 to 15 years.
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 8 Our Current Fleet
Engines E71 – 2016 Pierce E72 -- 2005 KME E73 -- 2012 Pierce E75 – 2015 Pierce Ambulances Reserve - 2005 KME M71 – 2012 Ford E450 Reserve – 2001 KME M72 – 2014 Ford E450 OES Type 1 -- 2008 HME M74 – 2014 Ford E450 M75 -- 2012 Ford E450 Aerial Truck Reserve - 2003 Ford E450 T74 -- 2016 Pierce Reserve - 2003 Ford E450
Brush Units Special Callout B71 – 2008 KME F550 Type 5 Squad 71 – 1993 Pierce B72 – 2007 Ford F550 Type 5 Boat 71 – 2006 Achilles B73 – 2005 KME Type 3 Boat 74 -- 2006 Achilles B74 – 2002 Ford F550 Type 5 B75 – 2015 Pierce Type 3
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 9 Services Services Provided by the Vacaville Fire Department
Structural Fire Suppression Wildland Fire Suppression Technical & Confined Space Rescue Swift Water Rescue Motor Vehicle Accident Extrication Emergency Incident Management Advanced Life Support Response Ambulance Transport Fire Safety Building Inspections Code Enforcement School Fire Safety Education Building Plan Review Fire Safety Training Public Service/Assistance Car Seats Inspections Hazardous Materials Response Smoke Alarm Installation
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 10
Response Performance Measurement and Incident Statistics
Vacaville Fire Department 2012 - 2016
Unit Responses All Calls for Service EMS\Rescue Calls
18605 16843 15478 15668 14377
10000 8893 9445 7981 8570
6797 7088 5728 6008 6278
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
For the first time in its history, the Vacaville Fire Department responded to 10,000 incidents in 2016. Since 2012, there has been an upward trend in all calls for service, (up 25.3 percent), unit responses (up 29.4 percent), and emergency medical services/rescue calls for Service (23.7 percent). 2016 showed record numbers in all three of these categories and similar growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. These figures tend to move in the same direction because of how they are interrelated. While a call to 911 generates a single call for service, multiple units may respond to a call, generating a higher number of unit responses. These unit responses can vary from two units for most EMS calls to a minimum of six units responding to a structure fire.
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 11 Most of the annual increase in call volume is being driven by EMS and Rescue calls, which accounted for 70.9 percent of all calls in 2016. In fact, over 52 percent of the total incident increase from last year is directly attributed to EMS calls. While further research is required, this increase is believed to be the result of Vacaville’s growth as well as the general aging of population and an increasing number of group living homes for seniors (board and care facilities, skilled nursing homes).
The Vacaville Fire Department is unique because it is the only public agency in Solano County that provides emergency ground ambulance transport services. This gives the City of Vacaville an advantage in that each of the three ambulances currently in service are staffed with an emergency medical technician and a paramedic that are also trained and equipped as firefighters – this allows Vacaville to have more firefighters at the scene of a fire much faster than neighboring jurisdictions. A fourth ambulance is currently browned-out but is cross staffed by the crew at Station 75 when the other three ambulances are busy.
These transports provide revenue through a fee-for-service model which varies depending upon the level of EMS service provided (Basic or Advanced Life Support) as well as materials used, distance travelled, and whether the patient is a city resident. Since 2012, the number of patients treated annually has increased by 25.4 percent, from 5,718 to 7,173.
Percent Percent change change since since 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2015 2012 Fires 304 398 303 323 313 -3% 3% Ruptures, overheat 19 10 10 9 7 -22% -63% EMS/Rescue 5,728 6,008 6,278 6,797 7,088 4% 24% Hazardous conditions 119 117 130 141 117 -17% -2% Citizen assistance 619 782 813 786 1047 33% 69% Good intent 839 903 997 986 1029 4% 23% False alarms 351 345 357 391 395 1% 13% Other 2 7 5 9 3 -67% 50%
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 12
A majority of the EMS incidents are Cause of EMS Incidents related to illnesses, with many of them being long-term issues such as diabetes, difficulty breathing, or heart conditions. Only 28 percent of EMS calls are directly attributed to emergent injuries, with falls – mostly among the Injury senior population - accounting for 55 28% percent of responses; far ahead of Illness vehicle accidents (25%) and assaults Injury (6%). This is in addition to over 600 Illness reported instances of crews assisting 72% uninjured fallen residents. In response, the Fire Prevention Bureau has actively engaged senior community with a fall prevention program that is taught by fire department personnel free of charge.
In addition to EMS calls, the department responds to a wide variety of emergencies including hazardous material spills, smoke investigations, wires down, lift assists, and a variety of fires (structure, wildland, and vehicles). While these non-EMS calls total only 29 percent of incidents, they often require a much larger utilization of departmental resources to resolve.
For example, a structure fire in a single family residence dictates an initial response of 15 personnel in six units: three fire engines, one truck, one ambulance, and a battalion chief. If the fire gets past the initial stage, additional resources may be dispatched to the scene and units often remain on-scene for hours. Wildland fires can extend for several hours and some can last for days. In contrast, EMS calls to a residence often utilize an engine company for less than 20 minutes and the accompanying ambulance for less than an hour.
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 13
While the actual number of fire and hazmat incidents is low compared to EMS calls, the resources expended are disproportionally larger as is the potential for loss of lives and property. The 2016 opening of Station 75 with an additional fire engine staffed by three personnel has helped address these growing challenges and will continue to do so in the coming years.
Once again, Station 72 responded to the largest percentage of incidents in Vacaville. Even Call Location by Response Area though the area served by Station 72 is not any larger than the areas 3% served by the other stations, it 23% does include Leisure Town and 27% the Factory Outlet Stores, as well as residential neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city. The addition of Station 75 has slightly 11% eased the burden faced by the 36% Station 72 crews – although not significantly. The data from 2016 is slightly skewed because Station 75 was only open for a little more than half the year. 71 72 73 74 75 The station response boundaries were redrawn when Station 75 went into service – with parts of Station 72’s response area being reassigned to Station 73 and 75. Since the new reponse areas were only in place for part of the year, 2017 should provide a better picture of the effect of the new boundaries.
The average daily incident count remains pretty steady throughout the year, with very slight increases in the late summer months and in December. These numbers did not change much as compared to 2015. Average Daily Call Count by Month
40
30
20
10
0
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 14 ISO Classification Improvement A Better Protected Community
In 2016, the Vacaville Fire Department underwent a comprehensive evaluation process to determine its Insurance Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification (PPC). We are happy to report Vacaville is now classified as a Class 2/2X jurisdiction – improved from Class 3/3X. The raters evaluate a jurisdiction’s fire department staffing and equipment, water supply, and dispatch capabilities to determine the PPC.
The PPC is important to both communities and fire departments. Communities whose PPC improves may get lower insurance rates. The PPC also provides fire departments with a valuable benchmark for planning, budgeting, and justifying fire protection improvements. The improved Class 2/2X rating puts the City of Vacaville in the top three percent of nearly 49,000 jurisdictions rated by the ISO.
2016 Firestorm Supporting communities across the state during wildfire season
California is known for its robust mutual aid system and 2016 was, once again, a very active fire season. Our 7 firefighters were deployed to 9 several fires throughout the State with assignments lasting anywhere from a 2 couple of days to several weeks. 4 5
1. COE Fire 2. Reservoir Fire 3. Blue Cut Fire 8 4. Clayton Fire 1 5. Trail Head Fire 6. Chimney Fire 7. Gap Fire 6 8. Soberanes Fire 9. Little Valley Fire 3
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 15
Fiscal Operating Expenses FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16
Salaries & Benefits $ 15,642,898 $ 16,148,130 $ 16,882,768 $ 17,629,196 $ 19,838,553 Services & Supplies 580,660 414,792 610,501 705,514 817,204 Indirect Costs 885,967 1,048,521 998,928 903,368 817,540 $ 17,109,525 $ 17,611,443 $ 18,492,197 $ 19,238,078 $ 21,473,297
Fire Department Operating Expenses
$25
$20
$15
Millions $10 $5
$- FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16 Salaries & Benefits Services & Supplies Indirect Costs
Revenues FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16
Paramedic Taxes $ 2,558,872.06 $ 3,191,918.79 $ 3,204,100.07 $ 3,529,948.66 $ 3,621,690.55 Ambulance Services 2,527,446.28 2,704,047.12 2,479,012.28 2,766,920.11 $ 3,207,053.53 Fire Fees 200,173.25 293,231.24 317,473.47 473,698.55 $ 531,504.55 GEMT - - 137,416.00 64,910.00 $ 65,632.33 IGT - - - 501,836.91 $ 632,688.91 $ 5,286,491.59 $ 6,189,197.15 $ 6,138,001.82 $ 7,337,314.23 $ 8,058,569.87
Fire Department Revenues $4.0 $3.5 $3.0 $2.5 $2.0
Millions $1.5 $1.0 $0.5 $- FY 12 FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 FY 16 Paramedic Taxes Ambulance Services Fire Fees (Fire Prevention, Code Enforcement) GEMT IGT
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 16 Community Risk Reduction Fire Prevention Bureau
The Fire Prevention Bureau consists of a Fire Prevention Bureau Manager, Fire Plans Examiner/Inspector, Fire Prevention Specialists, and a Fire Safety Coordinator. All staff level personnel are supervised by the Fire Prevention Bureau Manager who is directly responsible for code enforcement, fire plans review and engineering, fire investigation, and fire and life safety education.
Fire Inspections
In 2016 we completed: 1,117 Construction Inspections 961 Fire Inspections 397 Plan Reviews
Fire Prevention Bureau Inspections & Reviews
1184 1117 913 915 961 856 856
603 503 477 372 438 448 397 346
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Fire Inspections Construction Inspections Plan Reviews
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 17 Code Enforcement
In 2016, the Code Enforcement Division responded to 3,078 complaints regarding specific municipal code violations which affect the safety, quality of life and appearance of the city. Since 2012, code enforcement cases have increased by 27 percent.
Code Enforcement Cases
3078 2836
2431 2367
1932
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Code Enforcement Cases
Weed Abatement Graffiti 21% 1% Other 6% Vacant Buildings 35% Property Maintenance 20% Homeless Encampments 1% Chickens/Animals 1% 0.36% 15% Water Violations 0.23% Obstruction PRW Planning/Zoning
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 18 Public Education - Media
Public education is an integral part of our community risk reduction efforts. The department provides several forms of public education, ranging from school site visits to impromptu contact while out in the community. We are happy to report our programs reached nearly 14,000 Vacaville community members in 2016. Additionally, our Fire Safety Coordinator became a certified child passenger safety technician and inspected 10 car seats.
Also, we have a presence in multiple social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, and Nextdoor. Our goal is to provide information to all Vacaville citizens.
Number of Residents in Education Events
10844
2619 2929 2740 2100 2500 1415 1345 860 900
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Educated in Emergency Preparedness Received Fire/Life Safety Information City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 19 Lifelong Learning Training Division
The Vacaville Fire Department Training Division supports the goal statement of recruiting, hiring, and retaining only the best people and supporting them through the development and maintenance of their knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is responsible for three major areas of training for the department: new personnel, in-service, and special operations. Training also assists the City’s human resources division in the hiring and promotional testing of personnel up to and through the rank of Captain for the Department.
New personnel training is accomplished through a 12-week, 672-hour academy that challenges both physically and mentally for the position of firefighter or firefighter/paramedic. Recruits complete hands-on drills and classroom work meeting minimum California firefighter standards as well as specific Vacaville Fire Department operations. Once graduated, new personnel receive their assignment to one of the Department’s five fire stations and begin an 18-month probationary program where they are evaluated every three months through a battery of manipulative and written testing and must maintain an 80 percent or better average. In-service training fulfills the Department’s certification and training mandated requirements, addresses skills degradation, advances in technologies, expansion of services, and many other topics. The components of the Department’s in-service training are quarterly training, outside training, company drills, training critiques, and career development. Special operations training improve our service capabilities in handling the events that pose the greatest risks to our firefighters and our community. It is extremely important that we conduct training in hazardous materials releases, weapons of mass destruction, confined space rescue and other technical rescues due to their infrequency and specialization. Training in these highly technical areas is often mandated by federal, state, or local laws as well.
2016 Training Division Achievements:
Developed and assigned training for all department personnel. In 2016 the department completed approximately 13,728 hours of training. This is an average of 16.8 hours of training per member, per month. This increase in the amount of training completed by our personnel is part of what has helped us achieve our improved ISO rating.
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 20 Quarterly training drills were conducted by members of our Hazardous Materials team, Technical Rescue team and Water Rescue team members. 282 hours of specialized training was completed in 2016 by our teams. For the second year in a row the rescue team participated in a nationally recognized drill called Urban Shield. Provided Traffic Incident Management (TIM) training to most of the department personnel. This training provides for improved safety when responding to and operating on emergency scenes that occur on the roadways. Hosted 15 fire training classes and three emergency medical classes throughout the year. This included two trench rescue courses that were taught by in-house instructors for outside personnel. Managed our California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship program. Apprenticed nine employees due to promotions and had three employees fully complete the program at journey level. A task book was created for all future engineers to use as a study guide and a means for showing proficiency in all the knowledge and skills of the position. This task book includes didactic as well as manipulative sign-offs that must be performed prior to the employee being able to act in the role of engineer. Provided CPR recertification of all police department personnel. Sent one employee to California Training Officer Symposium to learn new training trends and standards. Sent two employees to California Fire Mechanics academy to learn specifics of vehicle maintenance. All acting and active engineers were given four-wheel drive training at Prairie City SRVA. This took a great deal of coordination. We utilized the three trainers that we had sent to four-wheel drive training the year prior as our instructors. The training was widely accepted as a great opportunity. Provided Unified Response to Violent Incidents (URVI) training to C Shift and B Shift at Novartis Pharmaceutical. This was a coordinated training which incorporated placing fire personnel along with police in a rescue task force. This training along with the training the employees received on the use of the ballistic vests and helmets is critical in case of an active shooter or other “live” violent event. 80% of all employees received the International Association of Firefighters Fire Fighters Survival course. We used our own in-house trainers for the delivery of this course on-duty. City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 21 One employee successfully completed a Bachelor Degree program. Five Employees completed California State Fire Training certification as a Firefighter 1 One employee completed California State Fire Training certification as a Firefighter 2. Four employees are currently completing Chief Officer Certification requirements. Recertified all Emergency Medical Technician-1 department personnel with Solano County.
2017 Goals:
Continue development of quarterly training plans to include more multi-company and multi-agency drills that continue to meet federal and state training mandates. Complete TIM Training for personnel that have not received it. Continue California Joint Apprenticeship program oversight including apprenticing new and promotional employees and ensuring all journey level completion requirements are met. Continue hosting an increased number of fire and EMS training classes in the department training room. Complete the development of a formal driver training program meeting all requirements as set by National Fire Protection Agency and California Department of Motor Vehicles. Encourage and foster additional employees to obtain certifications with State Fire Training at all levels. Continue the updating of department training performance standards. Train all suppression employees on the new ambulances, engines and ladder truck recently purchased including operations and driving. Provide clear direction and training for all company officers in command and control. Improve engine company efficiency at fire scenes with the implementation and training of employees in the Nozzle Forward curriculum. Complete probationary training and testing of 13 new Firefighter/Paramedic employees.
City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 22 Community Involvement
We care about the Vacaville Community Members of the fire department participate in numerous charitable events in the community throughout the year. Whether you see them holding out fire boots on street corners in the springtime to raise money for the disabled, driving a pink engine through town in support of cancer victims, or delivering toys, bicycles, and food baskets to the needy during the holidays, fire department employees actively serve the citizens of Vacaville both on and off the job. These programs are operated at no cost to the City through the cooperation of the Vacaville Firefighters Association (IAFF Local 3501), private donations from individuals, and public funding from local businesses.
A few of the 2016 programs and events we have supported: Kid Fest Fill the Boot for Muscular Dystrophy Christmas Toy Drive & Food Baskets IAFF Children’s Burn Camp Fisher House Fundraiser Pink Heals Cancer Support Society Baskets of Hope Vacaville Boys & Girls Club
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City of Vacaville Fire Department 2016 Annual Report 24
City of Vacaville Fire Department 650 Merchant Street Vacaville, CA 95688