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Insufficient Manpower Continues to be an Issue For Fire Department
Updated On: Aug 10, 2015
Lake Firefighters Face Manpower Shortage Countywide

Posted: Sunday, August 9, 2015 6:05 am - Daily Commercial

  • livi

At the center of a long-simmering debate over the weaknesses in Lake County’s fire service is the number 16. That’s the number of people who have perished in fires from 2009 to 2014, and to some, it’s an alarming figure.

“One death is too many,” Commissioner Sean Parks said. “I am very concerned we are not going to have the resources in place to address life, safety and property loss.”

Lake County Fire Chief John Jolliff also expressed concerns.

“I don’t like living with it,” he said of the number of deaths.

Jolliff said there are several factors that contribute to fire deaths and each fire fatality has different circumstances.

“Time is probably our biggest hurdle because of distances between the fire stations and where they are located,” he said. “A lot of places are down dirt roads.”

At times, Jolliff said firefighters show up when the home is already engulfed in flames. Mobile homes, in particular, burn faster.

But 16 isn’t the only number that troubles county officials and firefighters.

Ten is also worrisome. In 14 fires that claimed a life in Lake County from 2009 to 2014, it took firefighters 10 minutes, on average, to get four firefighters on the scene so they could safely enter the structure and begin rescue operations. That is far higher than the National Fire Protection Association standard of four minutes.

Thirty-three is also a number the department is grappling with. That is the average number of minutes it takes to get 15 firefighters to a scene to control a blaze based on fires that occurred from 2009 to 2014. Again, that’s far higher than the national standard. The NFPA recommends having 15 firefighters at the scene in eight minutes.

The majority of the 24 fire stations in the county are staffed with just two firefighters, making it particularly difficult to respond adequately to emergencies in outlying areas, such as Pine Lakes, Astor and Sorrento, without jeopardizing the safety of firefighters and citizens, according to the local fire union.

Although it is difficult, maybe impossible, to say whether additional manpower would have saved a life in these instances, there is a growing sense among firefighters in Lake County that, whenever the alarm sounds, they may not have enough resources.

“I see a correlation in general of not having enough resources and excessive property loss and even possible loss of life,” Parks said.

Lt. Brian Gamble, vice president of the Professional Firefighters of Lake County, said manpower issues need to be addressed.

“It has been a matter of funding and the tough economy,” he said. “We are at the point where we are at the tipping of the scale. This is the 30th year of service for our department. Our department has been playing catch up with service versus the growth of Lake County for as long as I can remember.”

Lake County Commission Chairman Jimmy Conner said it simply comes down to financial resources.

“To get to the level of service that the union leadership in Lake County wants to get to, it would create massive tax increases on our residents,” he said.

Polk County, which combined fire and EMS services in 2010, is proposing an increase in its single-family residential fire assessment rate from $168 to $195.

“The rate increase will allow Polk County Fire Rescue to keep up with population growth in unincorporated areas of the county,” said Brad Ruhmann, public information officer for the county. “This fee increase, coupled with a federal grant, will allow us to open at least one new station in the near future.”

In Lake County, the residential fire assessment has dropped to $175 from $181 as the result of a Tindale Oliver Fire Assessment study showing a trend toward more responses to institutional facilities and less to residential facilities, according to county officials. Therefore, institutional rates will increase and residential rates will drop, but the funding from the fire assessment will remain the same from the previous year.

Polk County Fire Rescue has 438 fire and EMS personnel — more than twice the number in Lake County at 183. Only two stations out of 28 in Polk have as few as two firefighters to an engine.

With a population twice the size of Lake County’s, Polk had 12 civilian deaths in the same five-year period. Its largest number of deaths — four —occurred in fiscal years 2011-12 and 2012-13. There was just one in fiscal year 2013.

Marion County, which is similar in size to Lake, reported 22 deaths from 2009 to 2015. At the end of 2008, Marion County Fire consolidated with EMS services. The organization had a three-year deployment schedule to put the change into place. From 2011 to 2012, the number of deaths dropped from five to two, followed by one death each year through 2015.

“Marion County is among the top Florida counties when it comes to funding fire rescue and emergency medical services,” according to a report issued in June by the Florida Association of Counties and a county press release.

Marion County ranked 11th for total fire and EMS expenses this year, approximately $49 million, according to the press release.

By comparison, Lake County spent $21 million this year on fire services, and Polk County spent $35.5 million.

Ken Willette, manager of the public fire protection division of the NFPA, said fire deaths are on the decline nationally.

He said the predicament Lake County finds itself in is not uncommon. But, at the same time, he said there comes a danger when working with fewer personnel in the field.

“Stretching a charged hosed line into a burning building and going upstairs and lying on your stomach requires two people,” he said. “One person doing that could put themselves in danger.”

An IAFF Geographic Information System Emergency Services Response Capabilities Analysis found Lake County Fire Rescue can cover only 30.9 percent of the county within four minutes and 65.1 percent within eight minutes.

“The ability to assemble a minimum of 15 firefighters at a structure fire in a typical single family within eight minutes, as required in NFPA 1710 is even worse, 0.6 percent,” according to the report. “This means that the majority of residents of Lake County cannot expect to receive the appropriate resources, in a timely manner, in the event of an emergency.”

The IAFF refers to 17 fatalities in the county from 2009 to 2014. The State’s Fire Marshall’s Office spokeswoman, Kayla Anderson, said 16 may not be a complete number based on whether the local fire department completed and submitted all reports or deaths.

According to the IAFF report, 14 out of the 17 deaths occurred in areas where Lake County Fire Rescue was unable to meet the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s 2-in-2-out rule for four firefighters at the scene of a fire in four minutes.

Jolliff said he is preparing a plan to address the issues once the fire insurance rating is completed. The Insurance Service Office analyzes communities’ fire protection capabilities and assigns a final score.

GIS Study Report Available on link


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