Fire company staffing report sees need for 22 full-time positions

If fully implemented, the staffing recommendations for the county’s volunteer fire and rescue companies made in a recent report would cost more than $1.5 million.

The Fire Company Staffing Analysis and Requested Solutions presented to the Public Safety Committee last week, calls for 22 full time equivalent positions.

In addition to more firefighters and paramedics, the report calls for two full-time equivalent positions in “training, administration and support.”

As proposed, the additional career personnel would continue to supplement the volunteer firefighters and paramedics that respond to emergencies throughout the county.

“I have a group of chiefs that have made requests for staffing to help fill holes and gaps in service,” said Tom Marable, president of the Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association.

That’s not to say that calls for service are going unanswered, however.

“Multiple companies are dispatched on each call, so someone is coming from somewhere,” Marable said. “[The additional staffing] will help reduce response times. We are all trying to minimize the time on the road.”

An assessment of fire and rescue response times is also included in the reported presented by Fire and Rescue Chief Tom Billington.

Fire and rescue crews typically respond to 1,636 calls in the northern end; 4,346 calls in the central area; and 2,455 calls in the southern part of the county each year.

The average annual response time for fire and rescue calls in the northern end of the county is 12.22 minutes; the average response time in the central part of the county is 7.72 minutes and the average response time in the southern end of the county is 14.10 minutes.

The report also illustrates how many times fire and rescue companies leave their primary coverage areas or “zones” to respond to calls in other areas.

For example, Warrenton fire and rescue units left their “zone” to answer calls in other areas 783 times. Of those, they responded to 379 incidents in New Baltimore.

On the other hand, Remington’s volunteer fire and rescue crews left their primary coverage area 999 times, and responded to incidents in Warrenton’s zone 545 times.

When this “convergence” occurs, two or more primary coverage areas are vacated and that leads to extended response times, Billington explained.

To alleviate the impact this has in Remington, where career staff is stationed only part of the time, the report calls for two full time equivalent firefighter/ paramedics and two full time equivalent “firefighter enhanced” positions. The additional career personnel would be stationed at Remington around the clock throughout the year.

The same measure is proposed in The Plains.

For Upperville, the staffing assessment calls for three “firefighter enhanced” positions in order to create a 12 hour, five day per week “response capability.”

In that scenario, two people would also rotate between Upperville and Orlean.

Other companies’ needs are also addressed in the staffing assessment.

“Fire and rescue wants more, communications and dispatch want more, but there is only so much money to go around,” said Lee District Supervisor Chester Stribling, a member of the Public Safety Committee. “We will have to look at the whole picture.”

Center District Supervisor Chris Granger agreed, and said the chiefs must now prioritize their needs.

“I think the Fire and Rescue Association is doing exactly what it is supposed to do,” Granger said. “I don’t think there’s been a knee-jerk reaction. The report was well thought out in terms of where the holes are and how to fix them.”