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Encinitas Fire Department reports steady response times, high EMS call share and interagency aid exchange
Summary
The fire chief reported November calls, training hours, response-time metrics and aid exchange figures, saying resources are appropriate and turnout/response metrics remain within department standards.
The Encinitas Fire Department briefed the commission on November statistics and year-to-date trends, emphasizing that emergency medical services (EMS) calls comprise the majority of 911 calls and that response-time metrics remain within departmental standards.
The chief (identified in the meeting only as the fire chief) said about 72–75% of 911 calls are EMS-related and that November had 655 total calls, including about 475 EMS calls and a higher-than-normal number of small fires (trash, cooking incidents) consistent with the Thanksgiving period. He reviewed 36-month trends and said the department’s resources match call volume.
Interagency aid exchange: The chief presented Net Aid exchange figures showing roughly even aid exchange over November and noted that Encinitas provided about 33 hours of aid and received about 9 hours in the sample month; net aid given was reported as 26 minutes and 4 seconds in the table shown.
Response times and turnout: The chief said the 90th-percentile turnout and response-time measures show the department is meeting targets—typical travel times were about 6 minutes 45 seconds (below the 8-minute standard). Dispatch crawl/processing times (time to triage and dispatch) were typically under two minutes at the 90th percentile.
Training and operations: The chief summarized training hours for the year across operations (4,478 hours), prevention, SCBA training, rope rescue practice (noting the department is second in the county for technical rope rescues), and EMS simulations.
Ending: Commissioners asked about dispatch location (Rancho Santa Fe) and aid-exchange specifics; the chief said the dispatch center covers North County agencies and offered to supply additional breakdowns on motor-vehicle incident locations by freeway if requested.
