Plan says fire department should increase staffing

The Whitefish Fire Department needs to bring on additional firefighters and plan for future equipment purchases, according to a plan that examines the operations of the department.

AP Triton, a consultant hired by the City of Whitefish, recently completed the long-range master plan for the fire department.

Rich Buchanan, project manager with AP Triton, says while his company is often brought in when a fire department is struggling, that's not the case with Whitefish. However, he noted, there are important planning steps the department needs to take in the next roughly five years.

“You have an amazing fire department that’s performing a great service,” he told City Council at a recent work session. “But you’re at a crossroads from a management and funding perspective, and it needs to change if you want to maintain what you have.”

The long-range fire department master plan looks at the current staffing and equipment at the fire department, along with response times and other areas related to the operations of the fire department including projecting needs for the future. While it sets out some general recommendations, the plan also says it’s important the city use the master plan to create a strategic planning process next to prioritize the goals and objectives of the department and set timelines for implementing the recommendations.

“The purpose of the plan was to look at the totality of the system and areas that you should consider improving in the next five years or more,” Buchanan said. “We suggest you create a strategic plan based on the master plan as soon as possible.”

The fire department provides emergency structural fire, initial attack wildland fire, numerous rescue scenarios and hazardous materials responses within the city, the Whitefish Fire Service Area and portions of the Flathead Fire Service Area. The department also provides paramedic level emergency ambulance transport services to a larger area that also includes the Olney area north and west to the Flathead County line.

About 60% of the department’s demand for service is within the city limits and 40% occurs in the fire service area outside of the city. In 2020, the department responded to 1,659 calls and of those 22% were fire calls and 78% were emergency medical calls.

City Council is set to adopt the plan at its Dec. 20 meeting and also vote on creating a strategic planning committee that would set tangible prioritized goals and objectives based on the master plan. The committee is set to consist of representation from the firefighter union, a representative from the rural fire board, a city councilor, City Manager and Fire Chief.

IN TERMS OF STAFFING, the master plan says the department needs to ensure that a minimum of five firefighters is on duty 24/7 for emergency response fire coverage and emergency medical service-related incidents. Currently, there are four firefighters on duty during a shift.

When a medical call occurs, two of the crew respond with the ambulance that leaves two firefighters assigned to respond to a fire emergency, which “constitutes an inability to fight a structure fire or provide any form of safe rescue.”

The master plan says that there should be three firefighters minimum designated to respond to fire emergencies.

“The number of people on the ground at the incident within 8 about to 10 minutes directly determines whether you’re able to save a life or you’re able to stop or contain the fire,” Buchanan said. “This is one of the few deficits that I think Whitefish needs to talk about. In the near future, this is one area where it could cost the life of a firefighter or they certainly won’t be able to stop a fire.”

In the past, fire departments could operate with less staff but the nature of fires with modern building materials means that while there are fewer fires, those that do occur are more catastrophic, he noted, in addition to the increased risk of wildfires.

“This is one area where Whitefish needs to think about very soon as your number of calls increases,” he said. “By having three people it’s at least going to allow them to stop a fire from spreading to the next building.”

The study estimates the cost of adding three additional firefighters at about $290,000, but also points out that by adding staff the department may be able to save money in overtime costs. It also suggests that rather than having the entire department staffed as firefighter/paramedics money could be saved by hiring any new positions as firefighters/emergency medical technicians, which has a lower salary.

The department employs 19 career firefighters, including the Chief and Assistant Chief, and is supported by nine volunteer firefighters.

RECOMMENDED FOR facilities and equipment, the master plan recommends planning for future replacement purchases.

“You have excellent equipment, but it’s all aging at the same time,” Buchannan said. “It’s expensive to replace an entire fleet at one time. If you don’t have the means to replace equipment and it needs to be repaired that gets complicated because you’re isolated when it comes to repairs.”

The plan also recommends that Whitefish add a ladder truck to its fleet noting that surrounding departments with such trucks are located too far away geographically. The Kalispell and Big Mountain fire departments have ladder trucks.

“Kalispell and Big Mountain aren’t close enough,” Buchanan said. “The truck provides water from above to put the fire out. Adding firefighters is more important right now, but that’s something you do need to look at a little farther down the line.”

The plan notes that Whitefish’s risk of a hazardous materials incident is high because of the BNSF rail line passing through town. It says the current level of service provided by the fire department is operational, but a significant incident would require outside assistance.

It recommends additional training and equipment to control or mitigate a hazardous materials incident.

“You need to improve your hazardous material response because you’re providing the initial mitigation because you’re too isolated,” he said. “Other resources will show up, but you’re going to be on your own for a while. What you’re looking to do is buy time until the cavalry arrives.”

LOOKING AT financial recommendations for where the department could improve, the master plan says the department would benefit from conducting a cost study for both the fire and ambulance portions of the department. In particular, to examine the cost of providing emergency medical services.

Buchannan said the fire department is financially sound, but from a sustainability point, it needs to do some work. The city, he notes, currently has a 41% collection rate for its ambulance services, which means it’s likely not charging enough.

“You don’t want to charge too much or too little,” he said. “You need to analyze what it actually costs to run the EMS system and that’s what you charge. You’re never looking to make a profit with these services, but you need to look at what you’re charging because you want to break even. There’s also public funding out there that is available that can help with costs.”

THE NUMBER OF calls the department receives is expected to increase over time correlating to the increase in the population of the city and in the rural fire outside city limits. While the plan notes that the population has been increasing every year at a certain rate, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t fully understood yet and could have a greater impact on the population increase.

The calls to the department were about 1,700 per year in 2020 and the projected calls in 2030 could be at about 1,900. The fire department is projecting a 3% increase in fire calls and a 4% increase in medical calls over the next 10 years.

While Whitefish now sees somewhat of an increase in calls in July and August, the calls for service will likely become even all year long, the study projects.

“That’s going to stress the system,” Buchannan said. “You are just plain going to run more calls.”