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Fire chief cites improved response times, staffing and budget strain; seeks continued recruitment and community programs
Summary
Fire Chief Brandon House told council the department has improved response times (average 4:13), runs a high‑school fire academy and community engagement programs, but faces budget pressure (11.3M budget; 42% toward unfunded liabilities) and higher-than-average structure-fire incidence.
Fire Chief Brandon House briefed the City Council on fire‑department priorities emerging from the strategic planning process: retention and professional development, recruitment through a high‑school fire academy, stepped‑up community engagement, and addressing constrained resources.
House said the department's 11.3 million dollar budget includes a large share going to unfunded liabilities — "about 42%" — leaving roughly $6.6 million for day‑to‑day operations. He described recruitment and retention steps including a formal professional‑development program for lieutenants and captains and the high‑school fire academy run in partnership with Delta College and the ISD. Two in‑city cadets were participating and the department has hired at least one academy graduate with a second hire expected.
The chief highlighted community outreach investments: an ARPA‑funded smokehouse fire‑prevention trailer for realistic drills and a community engagement coordinator (90% opioid‑dollars funded, 10% general fund) who works with schools and recruitment. He said the department increased public interactions year‑over‑year by 50% after adding the coordinator and the new trailer.
On operational performance, House reported an average response time of 4 minutes, 13 seconds (better than the NFPA guideline of 5:20) and said the city experiences 150–180 structure fires a year versus a typical comparable community rate of about 65. He added that 65% of structure fires are confined to the room of origin, a metric he said indicates effective response and training.
Council members asked about incentives for in‑city employees and about station locations given the drop from nine stations in the past to three today; the chief said the city offers a 1% in‑city incentive and that station consolidation reflected long‑term demographic changes. The council thanked the chief for the report and reinforced support for recruitment and prevention efforts.
