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Hanford Fire Chief Dan Perkins presents 2024 annual report, cites staffing shortfalls and rising calls
Summary
Fire Chief Dan Perkins told the Hanford City Council the department handled roughly 6,532 emergency calls in 2024, is operating at about 59% of nationally recommended staffing for structure fires, and is planning upgrades including a fourth station and additional personnel funded by Measure H.
Dan Perkins, fire chief for the City of Hanford, presented the Hanford Fire Department’s 2024 annual report at the council’s Sept. 16 meeting, outlining rising call volumes, equipment purchases and ongoing staffing shortfalls.
Perkins said the department responded to about 6,532 emergency calls in 2024 and that calls were increasing year over year. “We respond to about 330 fires” that require hose lines and staffed engine companies, he said, and roughly 55% of calls are medical-related. Perkins told council members that the department is on track to exceed 7,000 calls in 2025.
The chief said the department now operates with 10 firefighters per shift but will reach 11 as Measure H–funded hires are brought on. He said nationally recommended staffing for a significant fire incident is 17 personnel and that Hanford’s department is at roughly 59% of that level. “When we have a fire they [Kings County] remain on scene and provide six additional bodies… We’re still one shy of the recommended minimum staffing,” Perkins said.
Perkins described actions taken in 2024 and plans for investments: purchase of two new engines (about $900,000 each), acquisition of a battalion chief position, one firefighter hire, replacement of aged hose and rescue equipment, upgrades to mapping and automatic vehicle location systems, tablet-based incident management and expanded regional training partnerships. He highlighted community-risk work — including a 2022 community risk assessment and the department’s plan to increase fire safety inspections — and said the bureau completed 100% of state-mandated inspections deriving from post–Ghost Ship fire legislation.
Perkins also reviewed prevention and community outreach accomplishments: 82% of elementary students in the Hanford Elementary School District received fire-prevention messaging, community emergency response team work and a record open-house attendance.
Council members thanked Perkins for the report and pressed for concrete steps to address equipment lead times and long-term vehicle replacement costs; Perkins said new ladder trucks and engines can take 36–48 months to build and that vehicle prices have risen substantially. Council members signaled support for returning mid‑fiscal year with a prioritized funding plan for apparatus replacement, reserves and options for lowering wear on large apparatus by using smaller response vehicles for some medical calls.
Perkins also described regional mutual‑aid relationships with Kings County Fire and Hanford Police Department and said the department is pursuing automatic vehicle location and GIS mapping to lower response times. He said some improvements are expected to reduce the 90th‑percentile total response time (the time 90% of callers experience) by roughly 1½ minutes and produce modest annual savings by handling dispatching internally.
Perkins closed by urging adoption of longer‑range plans and staffing steps to meet national guidance, and council members thanked the department and asked for follow‑up materials on vehicle replacement budgeting and detailed staffing requests.
