Village Issues Statement Denying Fire District's Need for New Hires

Editors Note: The village of Barrington recently received a request from the Barrington Countryside Fire District asking the village to hire seven additional firefighters. The village supplies firefighters to the district as part of an intergovernmental agreement. Village Manager Jeff Lawler said the village rejected the fire district's request last week.

Following is the statement from the village:

The Village of Barrington has worked diligently, particularly during the past several years, to reduce the cost of government by seeking greater efficiency and innovation in the delivery of service to residents.

Every department has contributed to that effort with most departments working with reduced staff, through layoffs and by not replacing employees who have left village employment. In light of this ongoing effort to reduce cost and seek efficiency, it was shocking to receive a request from the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District asking the Village to hire seven additional firefighters.

The Fire Department did not lose one single firefighter/ paramedic through layoffs or by not filling vacant positions during the past several years, as every other village department did, including the Police Department. The Barrington Village Board believes that there is no proven need to increase the number of firefighter/ paramedics at this time. (18% increase of total sworn department personnel; a 29% increase of firefighter/paramedics)

The Fire Department currently has 39 sworn personnel assigned to one of the three stations in the Village of Barrington, Lake Barrington and Barrington Hills. Station 1, in the Village of Barrington, averages five calls for service per day; Station 2, in Barrington Hills, averages two calls per day and Station 3, in Lake Barrington, averages one call per day.

Fifty‐six percent of those calls in 2010 were for medical issues requiring paramedic services. Twenty‐five percent of the calls were false alarms and two percent of the calls were for fires of any kind, including mutual aid to surrounding departments.

The chart below illustrates the number and types of fires that were responded to.

2008-2010 Fire Breakdown and Analysis

The Fire Protection District Trustees have apparently based their desire to hire additional firefighter/paramedics from a study they commissioned by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association Consulting Service. It is apparent that the consultant for the Barrington Fire Protection District focused on the firefighting aspect of the department, particularly the need for additional firefighters for structure fires, which represent one-third of one percent of all calls to the department.

We believe that it is unnecessary and not financially sound to base staffing for one-third of one percent of all calls, particularly when auto aid and mutual aid is available from surrounding departments and is the normal and customary method to fight larger fires.

The following are issues and concerns that we found with the consultant’s report:

· Early in the consultant’s study, the point is made that there are no absolute standards (for staffing) for what might work well in one community or another. That being the case, the consultant raises questions about appropriate staffing needs while not ruling out that local needs and local funding levels are sound rationale for staffing levels.

· The consultant estimated the population of the service area to be over 40,000, but the actual population is nearer to 24,710; and that the district is 54 square miles, rather than the actual 46 square miles.

· Most of the report focuses on staffing for fires which are infrequent and made little mention of medical service calls, which are many.

· No mention is made of the fact that the Village of Barrington has a sprinkler ordinance and the benefits that come with this ordinance. There is no mention of the need to promote sprinkler systems in residential and commercial structures throughout the jurisdiction.

· The consultant’s report recommends five personnel per shift at all three fire stations. This recommendation means increasing minimum daily staffing by 50% from 10 to 15. If 15 personnel are recommended per shift, is 15 the new minimum staffing number? If not, what is? If yes, the next question is how many additional employees are needed to be hired to satisfy the District’s staffing concerns. The numbers 7, 9 and 12 additional employees have all been mentioned by the District’s consultant previously.

· The consultant cites various studies that have been conducted to determine the efficiency of firefighting responses, resource deployment and functional deployment. The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) 2011 Needs Assessment document states that most fire departments protecting less than a population of 250,000 do not assign four personnel to each pumper. While the limited argument can be made that more firefighters on the fire ground equates with greater efficiency, the fact remains that most fire departments in the country are not providing additional firefighters to enhance fire ground efficiencies. A pro‐active means to addressing firefighter safety includes having a fire sprinkler ordinance, substantial building construction codes, and aggressive fire inspection and prevention programs. The greatest effort to enhance firefighter safety is to not have the fire at all.