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Oxnard fire chief flags staffing, response-time gaps and rising costs; lifeguard program estimated at $1.5 million
Summary
Fire Chief Hamilton told the council the Oxnard Fire Department is rated ISO class 2 and close to class 1 but falls short of NFPA 1710 staffing benchmarks, is facing rising equipment and training costs, and estimates a modest lifeguard program would cost about $1.5 million to start and $800,000 annually.
Fire Chief Hamilton told the Oxnard City Council at a public safety workshop that the Fire Department holds an Insurance Service Office (ISO) class 2 rating and is close to a class 1 score but faces persistent staffing shortfalls, compliance gaps with NFPA 1710 response standards, and mounting equipment and training costs.
Hamilton said the department "scored somewhere in the 88% range" on ISO measures and that "getting above 90 would give us a class 1 rating." He praised the city's Public Works Department for supporting the water-supply component of ISO scoring.
The chief outlined response-time standards under NFPA 1710 — four personnel in four minutes and 15 personnel in eight minutes — and said the department can most directly influence turnout times. He cited target turnout times of about 60 seconds for EMS calls and 80 seconds for structure fires, plus roughly 20 seconds to don protective gear, and said average travel times have improved after adding response units.
But Hamilton said the department does not meet the NFPA staffing benchmark across all units because only a few engine companies currently have four personnel. He described a recent staffing change that added a fourth firefighter to one engine in the Sakioka development and said that move doubled that engine's compliance from roughly 30% to about 60%.
"If someone calls 911, we're gonna go," Hamilton said, noting that it would be a significant change in fire-service ethos to decide not to respond to some calls. "It'd be a change if there was calls that we decided we weren't gonna respond to. So, but we may yet have to reach that fork in the road." He presented a standard-of-cover study as the next step to analyze resource placement and workload and to help determine when to add personnel.
Hamilton also listed other workforce and wellbeing measures: the department has added two emotional-support canines that live at stations, contracted two culturally competent clinicians for staff support, and is completing a PFAS serum study with final blood samples being collected this week.
Longer-term needs include modernizing aging fire stations, replacing major apparatus that lagged before the passage of Measure E, upgrading five aid stations, and replacing a training classroom currently housed in the old Oxnard High School building slated for demolition.
The chief said federal grant funding has helped training but appears to be dwindling, which will complicate maintaining specialized training for hazardous-materials and urban search-and-rescue disciplines. He warned that costs for personal protective equipment and communications gear are rising "fairly significantly," increasing the department's budget pressure.
On a separately noted council priority, Hamilton said the city was unable to implement a lifeguard program because of funding and staffing shortages after COVID; he estimated establishing a modest program would cost about $1,500,000 with ongoing annual costs near $800,000.
Hamilton closed by reiterating the department's commitment to protecting life, property and the environment and invited the police chief to present the police department's update next.
