Final Words from City Watchdog
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Neighborhood WHEAT RIDGE
MARCH 2012
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Gazette EDGEWATER
Wheat Ridge Fire Department Delivers on Safety Message BY ARTHUR ROSENBLUM
I
n May 2011 when voters in the Wheat Ridge Fire Protection District (WRFPD) approved an increase in its mill levy to provide an additional $1.1 million annually to its fire department, they expected to receive improved service and safety. A fiveyear Strategic Plan presented a long list of goals that included adding eleven full-time professional firefighters to the department; improved training and public education; improved management of department resources; and enhancing the safety of the district’s 26,000 residents and 75 firefighters and officers. When the mill levy increase was followed in February 2011 by a $1,346,524 grant from the Department of Homeland Security to jump start the hiring process, district residents were given every reason to believe they would be served by a department that met or exceeded rigorous national standards that guide the operations and management of the nation’s fire service organizations. In less than two years, all available evidence suggests that the voters made the right choice and are being rewarded for the trust and investment they placed in their fire district administration and the fire department’s chief, Steven Gillespie.
High-level Staffing Chief Gillespie sees the addition of full-time firefighting staff as the single most important benefit from the increased revenues flowing into his department. Each of the department’s three fire apparatus now has a full-time officer, a full-time engineer/ driver and two volunteer firefighters on a 24/7 basis. According to Gillespie, that staffing has provided a “continuity and consistency of leadership, and a continuity and consistency of crews” that have seen increased quantity and quality of training, improvements in service delivery, and reduced response times to emergencies throughout the district. In the past year Wheat Ridge fire personnel, on runs from two fire stations, have reduced response times from an average of four minutes-58 seconds to four minutes-four seconds. Saving those precious seconds on 2,800 calls a year can make the difference between life and death. Gillespie proudly points out that the national benchmark for response time is between six and eight minutes. Almost 80 percent of those calls are medical emergencies and, much more often than not, when someone in the district is ill or injured, they are likely to see a Wheat Ridge firefighter/EMT before an ambulance with paramedics. The chief is quick to point out that it is not only the full-time firefighters who account for the department’s improved service. The department’s 60 volunteer firefighters are not hobbyists out looking for adventure,
camaraderie and feel-good experiences. They are in fact professional firefighters; every one of them has received state firefighter certification. The volunteers work 12-hour shifts, get to know the full-time staff and the district, and bring a level of professionalism that few volunteer or combined (professional/ volunteer) departments enjoy. Not only are the volunteers fully trained professionals, but the department also has the luxury of selecting the very best from a large pool of applicants. Gillespie reports that there were recently 100 applicants for seven volunteer openings. “This is a highly dedicated volunteer force that lives to come in and be on a fire truck,” Gillespie says. “They are good to go at the drop of a hat.” The down side of having such highly qualified volunteer force is that many go on to pursue full-time paid careers on other departments resulting in average volunteer tenure of only 18 months on the Wheat Ridge department.
Management Efficiencies When Chief Gillespie talks about management efficiencies he speaks with the authority that few fire chiefs in the country have. Gillespie is pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in organizational development and expects to have his dissertation completed and his doctorate in a few months. Gillespie has used his professional and academic experience to oversee the accomplishment of 80 percent of the goals in the department’s five-year Strategic Plan in only two years. Among these accomplishments are: the increased full-time staffing; a redesign of training including collaborative training with other departments; the creation of job descriptions and a personnel performance evaluation; creation of a fund and schedule for apparatus (engines and trucks) replacement; the implementation of a vehicle inspection and maintenance program; and the development of new Standard Operating Procedures and Standard Operation Guidelines. And, at the beginning of 2012, WRFPD implemented a building inspection program that will result in every commercial and multi-family residential property in the district being inspected by professional firefighters. These inspections serve two vital purposes. They point out safety hazards to property owners which, when corrected, will prevent fires and accidents, and they familiarize firefighters with these locations, so that if a fire does occur, they are better prepared to fight the blaze more efficiently and safely. Also underway are new and improved public education programs with an emphasis on elementary and middle schools that will raise awareness about fire safety and help the district’s young residents grow into more
WHEAT RIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT has added more full-time/volunteer firefighters and new vehicles, thanks in part to a mill levy passed in 2011, improving service and safety. Pictured are (left to right): Lieutenant Dave Harm, Chief Steven Gillespie, Engineer Matt Marfil and firefighter Thomas Lyons. PHOTO ARTHUR ROSENBLUM will staff the Edgewater fire station with safety conscious adults. a full-time crew. That staffing will provide Beginning this spring, staff will be trained faster response times to locations throughout and certified in child safety-seat installations Edgewater, as well as locations in southand will provide that valuable service to eastern Wheat Ridge. Both chiefs see this as district residents free of charge. an invaluable improvement of service to both communities. Budgetary Oversight Gillespie likes the idea of increased revenues for Wheat Ridge, and more Chief Gillespie is fully conscious of importantly, “the additional station would the need to wisely manage an additional correct coverage gaps in Wheat Ridge.” Chief $1.1 million in the department’s budget. Finocchio says, “Something has to happen. About half of that money goes towards the With only one firefighter often responding personnel expenses for the 11 new firefighters to emergencies in Edgewater, the longer we (a 12th will soon be added), while the balance go without a solution, the closer we are to a is used for capital improvements (station problem.” Finocchio added that sustaining an renovations), the apparatus replacement independent fire department in Edgewater is program, and a reserve account that will not economically feasible. help make up for shortfalls caused by lower Edgewater City Council representative property values providing less revenue. Kristian Teegarden commented that Chief Finocchio made a very compelling Possible Edgewater presentation to the council and offered a Partnership variety of possible solutions to improve fire safety and protection in our community. He For several months Gillespie and stated, “Council is still gathering information WRFPD board members have been in and will present its findings to the citizen body discussions with members of Edgewater when further public discourse is engaged. We City Council and Edgewater Fire Chief are well aware of the upcoming 100th Mark Finocchio about the possible anniversary of the department, and merger of the departments. The that makes the process much two possible scenarios are that more harrowing. However, Edgewater will contract you can rest assured that with Wheat Ridge to we have a good group provide service to this of folks on Council and community, with 5,500 everybody is working residents living within the together to find the .7 miles, to the south of best solutions for our Wheat Ridge, or the City of community.” Edgewater will formally elect Regardless of the future of to become part of the Wheat merger talks between WRFPD Ridge Fire Protection District. and Edgewater, it’s clear the future of Gillespie and Finocchio both see the Wheat Ridge Fire Department is on a financial, operational and safety benefits to clear course toward increased professionalism the merger, and the Edgewater City Council and enhancing a tradition of service, a is expected to make a decision on how to tradition characterized by the department proceed by the end of April. If the council motto, Doing the Right Things at the Right does decide to pursue the merger, an election Times for the Right Reasons. will have to be held in Edgewater to approve an increase in that city’s mill levy to pay for To learn more about the Wheat Ridge Fire Dethe increased level of service. partment and to read the WRFPD 2010-2014 If the merger takes place, Wheat Ridge Strategic Plan, visit www.wrfire.org.