Kalispell work session highlights fire and police staffing plans after public-safety levy

Kalispell’s fire and police chiefs briefed the Planning Commission on Jan. 14 about current staffing levels, planned hires and station projects following a recently approved public-safety levy.

Fire Chief Daniel Pierce described the Kalispell Fire Department as an “all-hazards” organization that provides fire suppression, ambulance service, technical rescue and hazardous-materials response. He said the department’s call volume has risen from roughly 25,100 calls in an earlier period to about 46,100 calls annually in city limits, that the city’s population has approached 30,000, and that the department currently staffs about 32 suppression personnel across two stations with typical daily on-duty staffing of seven to ten personnel.

Pierce said the levy will fund additional staff and facilities: the city has authorization to add positions and is running a recruit academy (11 recruits currently in training), and when station 63 is built (planned within about two years at Mountain Vista Way and Farm to Market) the department expects to add staffing that could bring allotted FTEs up to roughly 59 and permit two dedicated engines and two dedicated ambulances to operate 24 hours a day. Pierce said station 65 (near Church Drive and Silverbrook) is envisioned in a five- to 10-year timeframe, subject to growth and funding. He also described how call-processing, turnout time and travel affect response times and noted mutual/automatic aid arrangements with neighboring departments (Evergreen, Whitefish and others).

Pierce told commissioners the levy could improve the department’s ISO rating (currently ISO 3) and thereby help commercial property insurance rates; he said the additional staffing and stations would reduce response times and improve capacity for larger incidents.

Police Chief Jared Gerundicio said Kalispell Police Department staffing has grown from about 35 officers in 2008 to 43 before the levy; the public-safety levy will add 10 officers and the department secured a grant-funded FTE for a dedicated DUI officer, bringing planned FTEs to about 54. The department responds to roughly 35,000–37,000 calls for service annually, Gerundicio said. He described planned redeployment of officers to provide more proactive policing and reduced response times and outlined space and facility adjustments: an upcoming conversion of an old Parks & Recreation building into evidence and detective space (a Westside TIF project), and use of city-owned property near the city shops for a search bay and evidence storage.

Commissioners asked about station staffing rotations, how mutual aid works and the timeline for new stations. Pierce said crews rotate through stations periodically to maintain firefighting skills and described automatic aid arrangements by geography. Both chiefs said the levy is an important step but not a complete fix for wider criminal-justice or detention capacity questions raised by commissioners and members of the public.

The work session was part of a series of planning commission discussions on the city’s land-use plan and focused on emergency services as the city grows.