News Channel 5 & Firefighter Response Times

On Monday evening, Channel 5's Ron Regan had an "investigative" news piece aired regarding firefighter response times in our area.

In the past few months, I have spent a considerable amount of time researching the issue of firefighter response times in regard to the closing of Old Brooklyn's Ladder Company 42.

Mr. Regan brought a very important issue to light that should concern all citizen regardless of where they live and I commend him for pursuing this story. Unfortunately, Mr. Regan's news story only scratches the surface of this issue and in some ways was unintentionally misleading; not by what he reported, but by what he didn't report.

For example, Mr. Regans' recitation of response time standards from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) were over simplified, and did not take into account how the response time standard must fit in with other NFPA standards for firefighting operations. While his reporting was dead-on regarding the speed at which fire spreads, the NFPA required response time is slightly more complicated.

For a "box alarm" (which roughly means a call from a live person as opposed to an automatic alarm for the fire department to a structure on fire) NFPA requires the first fire unit to arrive within 4 minutes of the fire company leaving the station. NFPA defines "response time" as the time it takes a fire unit to reach the fire scene once the unit leaves the station. NFPA allows an additional one (1) minute for "turn-out time" which is the time between when the fire unit receives the alarm from the dispatcher and the wheels on the unit begin rolling out the door of the station. So, Mr. Regan's story was very accurate up to the point where the first fire unit arrives on the scene.

However, the NFPA also requires a minimum number of fire fighters at a structure fire who are assigned specific tasks in order to begin SAFELY fighting a structure fire and rescuing people. It is important to remember that fire trucks do not put out fires by themselves. You need people to fight fires and a lot of them. Most suburban and rural departments runs with two or three personnel on a fire truck. The city of Cleveland runs with four personnel. The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) runs with five personnel on a truck.

NFPA standards state that the first due engine should arrive in four minutes or less of response time to 90 percent of the incidents. However, NFPA standards further state that a first "full alarm" assignment of fire units and personnel should arrive in eight minutes or less. A first "full alarm assignment" must include 15-16 firefighting personnel in order to meet NFPA standards to begin SAFE firefighting operations that involve firefighters entering the structure to do search and rescue and an "inside attack" of the fire. Many suburban and rural departments simply do not have that many personnel and, as a result, are not able to do an effective search and rescue, and conduct an "outside attack" or defensive firefighting operations (sometimes referred to insiders as the "surround it and drown it" approach).

For example, given the staffing levels on each fire unit, in order for the City of Cleveland to meet NFPA standards for response time for a first full alarm assignment, the following pieces of equipment are dispatched to a "box alarm": 2 pumpers, 1 hook and ladder; 1 rescue squad; and 1 battalion chief. This a standard first alarm assignment in the City of Cleveland. All of these units must arrive within 8 minutes of response time in order for NFPA standards to be met with the first due engine arriving within 4 minutes. NFPA standards state that this level of response much be achieved 90 percent of the time to meet the standards.

As you can see, Mr. Regan's report left out many details of any issue that is complicated to be sure.

I would add some additional questions for citizens to ask of their fire departments:

1. Is your philosophy of firefighting and training for "inside attack" style firefighting or "surround it and drown it?"

2. How many firefighting personnel are on duty and ready to respond to a fire at any given time of the day or night in my area?

3. How many firefighting personnel are staffed to each fire unit?

4. What "runs" does your average response time include -- does it include non-fires, non-emergencies, medical calls, etc. (The response time that matters under the NFPA standards is to structure fires -- averaging all calls into the time will tend to make the response times look better.)