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Committee hears fire and emergency‑response metrics; members request district and station breakdowns
Summary
City staff presented operational metrics for the fire/EMS division, reporting that medical responses make up about 75% of calls and that overall incident volume rose roughly 25% year‑over‑year; councilmembers asked for district‑level counts, unit response‑time data and historical trends back to 2019.
City staff gave the Public Safety Committee an operational briefing on fire, emergency medical and prevention activities and answered questions about response‑time standards and district variation.
The presentation noted that medical responses remain the department’s largest workload — roughly three‑quarters of all incident responses — and that incident totals have increased compared with prior reporting periods, with staff describing about a 25% year‑over‑year rise in overall volume. Staff also said the department has completed thousands of inspections in the prior year and that the MIH (mobile integrated health) program has made more than 8,000 resident contacts so far this fiscal year.
Councilmembers asked for more granular information. Several members requested station‑ or district‑level breakdowns (with special attention to District 5), unit‑level response‑time metrics and the percentage of calls that meet any stated standards. One councilmember asked that the department provide trends extending back to 2019 to compare pre‑pandemic and current patterns.
Staff said investigators document cause and origin for structural fires and can provide further breakdowns by cause (for example, whether incidents involve multifamily units, vacant structures or other causes). The presentation also flagged planned hiring: an upcoming academy beginning April 7 is expected to add seven officers to help fill vacancies; staff said four enforcement positions remain open.
The committee did not take formal action on the briefing but asked staff to return with the requested station‑level data, historical trend analysis and response‑time compliance figures to inform budget and policy discussions.
