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Fire chief seeks new engine, squads and Station 7 in five-year Measure Y plan to counter rising call volume
Summary
Fire Chief sought Measure Y funding to staff a new engine in year one, add squads and open a northside Station 7 later in the plan, citing a 58% rise in call volume since 2006 and stretched response times in expanding neighborhoods.
Fire Chief (surname Krusak) presented a five-year plan tied to Measure Y revenue on Feb. 20 that would add frontline units, two-person medical squads, and a seventh fire station to address rising call volume and slow response times in newly developed areas.
Krusak said total emergency responses rose to 13,422 last year, a 58% increase since 2006, while the department's staffing and deployment model remained essentially the same. He noted the department last met its effective response-force standard for structure fires in 2019 and that large new subdivisions north of Shepherd now sit outside the city's target response windows. A 10.5-minute effective response-force target for structure fires, Krusak said, is increasingly difficult to meet under current deployment.
The plan would initially staff an additional engine (nine positions) and reallocate truck coverage to improve both fire and medical response. Subsequent years would add two-person squads (six personnel per squad) to increase medical response, staff a Station 7 for northwest growth, expand prevention and records support, and fund facility improvements including a long-term headquarters/briefing room redesign.
Krusak told the council the city's apparatus procurement lead times have stretched to four years and that a planning timeline must account for vehicle and station build times. He also urged investments in prevention and public education programs and noted successful recent steps: a new Station 2, Lucas automatic CPR devices and restored inspection capacity after hiring a second fire inspector.
Council members asked about the plan's pace and suggested staff accelerate land acquisition and vehicle orders because of long build times. Krusak said staff had already begun looking for parcels in the Heritage Grove area and will coordinate with planning staff. The council asked staff to include the fire requests in the citywide five-year forecast and to return with costed capital and operating figures.
