Department Overview

This overview of the Edmonds Fire Department is intended to acquaint you with our organization. It is refreshed as changes occur or new information becomes available. Thank you for visiting our website. Comments are most welcome and may be sent to the Fire Chief at tomberg@edmondsfire.wa.us, or by calling 425-771-0214.

ORGANIZATION

In 2004, 53 full-time employees are divided into four Divisions:

• Administration (2)

• Operations (36)

• Advanced Life Support (12)

• Training (1)

• Fire Prevention/Public Education (2)

There are currently four, unpaid Volunteers. The Fire Chief commands Administration, Operations and Training, and serves as the City Disaster Coordinator. Advanced Life Support is under Operations but is a separate budget item. The Training and Safety Chief administers the Volunteer Program, and the Fire Marshal commands Fire Prevention/Public Education.

STAFFING

The Fire Chief, Fire Marshal, Training Chief, Fire Inspector, and Executive Assistant work a regular, weekly schedule. There are 16 personnel assigned to each of  three, 24-hour shifts. A minimum of nine Firefighters, two Paramedics and one Battalion Chief staff the three Fire Stations 24/7. Firefighters work a 48-hour per week shift schedule with a Kelly Day (off day) every seventh shift.

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

As part of City-wide cutbacks in 2003, the Volunteer Program was reduced to non-paid status. Part-time Volunteers operate under the direction of the Training Officer. Volunteers are classified as non-combat, meaning they cannot be involved in direct fire-fighting operations; however, they respond as support personnel to help fulfill Department emergency and non-emergency missions. All current Volunteers are Emergency Medical Technicians who can help career personnel deliver emergency medical services (80-plus percent of emergencies) when multiple incidents or an escalating incident impacts career staffing levels.

In 2003, Volunteers responded to 24 emergency incidents, donating 93.5 hours. They logged 99.5 hours serving at civic events, and 460 hours in training. Because they reside in Edmonds, Volunteers are readily available and serve as an important augmentation to the on-duty force. Over the past four years, four Reserve/Volunteers have found employment with career Fire Departments in the state.

STATEMENTS OF PURPOSE

The Department has four statements of purpose in Standard Operating Procedure format including a Mission Statement, Vision, Values, and Customer Service Standards. Core values are:

• Patient care comes first

• Life takes precedence over property

• Give the patient/victim/citizen the benefit of the doubt

• Err on the side of caution

• Send too much not too little

• Practice safety at all times

• Customer service is the most important service the Department provides.

These four documents describe organizational core values and may be summarized as BE FAST, BE GOOD, and BE NICE. 

CORE MISSIONS

The Fire Department is the community crisis Department. A multi-mission organization, core missions include:

• Advanced Life Support (Paramedic) and Basic Life Support (EMT) medical response, treatment, and transport

• Fire suppression

• Hazardous materials response

• Technical rescue and extrication

• All-hazard disaster preparedness and response

• Fire prevention, fire and life safety education

• Code enforcement

• Fire investigation.

BUDGET

The 2004 Fire Department budget is $5.9 million dollars. Fire and EMS operations are labor intensive. Salaries, benefits, and overtime to maintain minimum staffing constitute over 80 percent of the budget. Other parts of the budget include mandatory costs from outside service providers such as SNOCOM 911 Dispatch, or cost-of-doing business expenses such as vehicle replacement, fuel, maintenance and repair, training, and communications.

EMS LEVY

In September 2002, 84.1 percent of 9,714 Edmonds voters elected to make the EMS levy permanent. In 2004, the EMS levy will generate $2,248,655.

OPERATIONAL CONCEPT

Firefighter/EMTs and Firefighter/Paramedics operate in teams. They carry the necessary tools and equipment to perform various missions onboard self-contained Fire Engines, Medic and Aid Units, the Ladder Truck, and support units. They function as emergency responders and risk managers, moving people, tools, and equipment around to complete the organization’s multiple missions.

Most calls require more than one unit to respond. Medic calls receive the closest Aid Unit and the Medic Unit. Motor vehicle accidents frequently require three units, and structure fires essentially empty the city. Personnel and equipment not required, a determination almost always made after arrival on the scene of the first unit, are returned to service as soon as possible.

FIRE PREVENTION

The Fire Prevention Division conducts fire and arson investigations, reviews plans, inspects fire alarm and fire sprinkler installations, decommissions underground storage tanks, determines water flow and emergency access, inspects new construction and remodels for fire safety, and offers a variety of fire- and life-safety public education programs. In 2003, the Fire Inspector and Engine Company Officers conducted 1,868 inspections with over 570 hazards found and 543 abated. Inspections that raise occupant awareness and identify and abate fire hazards constitute 9-1-1 phones that do not ring.

TRAINING

Training is the most important pre-emergent activity for a public safety agency. Until 2003, the Assistant Chief was responsible for training and safety. In 2004, a dedicated Training and Safety Chief was hired to perform the training and safety responsibilities previously assigned to the Assistant Chief. Fire service operations and training and safety are strictly regulated and enforced by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, and include Fire Department-specific legal requirements enacted as the Washington State Safety Standards for Fire Fighters (Chapter 296-305 WAC).

Edmonds trains jointly with Lynnwood and Fire District 1/Mountlake Terrace Fire Departments in some common training areas such as rescue, hazardous materials, EMS, emergency operations, and incident command. The remainder of training is conducted in-house or with contract instructors. Each Engine Company is assigned annually to the State Fire Academy at North Bend for live-fire training. The presence of a full-time person dedicated to training and safety reduces the threat to Firefighter and citizen safety and risk of liability exposure. Under a dedicated Training Officer, emergency ground performance improves significantly. In Edmonds, we “Train Like We Fight and Fight Like We Train.”

CROSS-TRAIN AND CROSS-STAFF

Firefighter/EMTs and Firefighter/Paramedics are cross-trained to complete the various Department missions. All Department vehicles are cross-staffed. Crews take the vehicles and tools required to complete the mission. The Department is a multi-dimension, multi-function organization. By training and equipping the same personnel to perform various missions, the citizen receives a greater return on their tax dollar in personnel, training, and performance. In December, 2003 seven Paramedics who integrated from Medic Seven became Firefighter I certified, capable of staffing both a Medic Unit and an Engine/Aid Unit.

REPRESENTATION

International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Union Local 1828 represents the Firefighters and Inspector. They work under a Collective Labor Agreement that expires on December 31, 2004. The Executive Assistant is represented by Service Employees International Union Local 6 (SEIU). The Fire Marshal and Training Officer fall under Civil Service rules; the Fire Chief is an at-will employee. The Volunteers are unrepresented.

POPULATION SERVED AND DEMOGRAPHICS

The Department serves a resident population of 44,133: 39,580 in Edmonds, 1,050 in Woodway (updated 2000 census figures, 6/30/03), and 3,503 in the unincorporated Esperance area (not updated since 2000 census). The Edmonds population age 65 or older is 16.6 percent, higher than any other Snohomish County community (page 13, 2000 census). Due to their age and the acuity of their medical conditions, seniors are the main consumers of EMS services.

The City Council recently adopted a population of 44,880, described as the “lower end of the range” (3/26/03 Council minutes), as the Edmonds Initial Growth Target for 2025. In 2003, the Edmonds Fire Department served 44,133 in the city, Esperance, and Woodway; 747 less people, but almost 22 years ahead of schedule.

FIRE STATIONS

Three Fire Stations serve the city:

Fire Administration is located on the Third Floor of City Hall at 121 5^th Avenue North.

AREA GEOGRAPHY

Due to annexations over the years, municipal boundaries changed requiring three, strategically-placed Fire Stations. Fire personnel respond in a timely manner to medical emergencies and traumatic incidents to administer life-sustaining and life-saving heart defibrillation, oxygen, intubation, intravenous therapy, and drugs to those in need, and to contain incipient fires before they flash over, engulf the room of origin, and expand exponentially.

The City has three staffed Fire Stations because:

1. City geography and the road access grid require it for timely EMS and fire response

2. Emergency units need to arrive in time to resuscitate non-breathing victims

3. Emergency units need to arrive in time to confine fires to the room and/or area of origin

4. The labor contract requires three, open and staffed Fire Stations

5. The Esperance agreement with Fire District 1 ($228,000 in revenue in 2004) requires three open and staffed Fire Stations.

APPARATUS AND VEHICLES

The Department operates one Medic Unit, two front-line and one reserve Fire Engines, three front-line and one reserve Aid Units, one Ladder Truck, one utility vehicle, and five cars. The Engines/Ladder and Aid Units are cross-staffed. Fleet Maintenance assesses monthly charges for staff vehicles' maintenance and replacement. Engines, Medic and Aid Units, and the Ladder are funded for replacement by annual allocations to the 005 Replacement Fund from various sources while repairs, labor, and fuel are based on cost.     

CLASS 4

The Washington Surveying & Rating Bureau evaluates Edmonds as a Class 4 fire protection city. The WSRB makes fire protection classification recommendations to its insurance company subscribers so they can establish annual fire insurance premiums for residential and commercial property-owners. Commercial properties are individually rated. The fire protection class is used in conjunction with the type of construction, occupancy, private protection, and exposure from adjacent buildings to determine the commercial classification. 

Using a deficiency standard, the fire protection component rates community Fire Defenses and Physical Conditions in four areas:

A Divergence factor (0) is computed when Water Supply and Fire Department ratings significantly differ.

The highest community rating is 1^st Class; 10^th Class is the lowest. In the last survey in 1990, Edmonds received 1,853 deficiency points out of a possible 5,000. Within budget, the Department is trying to upgrade procedures, record keeping, training, and equipment to prepare for the next WSRB survey.

CALL VOLUME

In 2003, the Department responded to 4,897 calls for assistance, or 13.4 calls per day. Of that number, 4,411 were Edmonds/Woodway/Esperance calls and 486 were automatic assistance calls to other jurisdictions. Of the 4,411 Edmonds area calls, 3,157 or 72 percent were EMS emergencies.

Emergency Response Data

                                                                          Calls                Fire
                        Year                 Calls                Per Day          $Loss$   

1998                3,743               10.2

1999                3,993               10.9             1,141,470

2000                4,214               11.5             1,321,470

2001                4,341               11.8             1,062,490

2002                4,445               12.1                574,930

2003                4,897               13.4             1,654,834               
 

RESPONSE TIME

The average Edmonds emergency response time in 2003 was 5.1 minutes, an average that includes automatic aid calls outside of Edmonds and non-code calls made without lights and siren.

FIRE AND LIFE LOSS

Fire loss in 2003 totaled $1,654,834; the loss that occurred in occupancies inspected by the Fire Prevention Division and Company Officers was not able to be determined. One large-loss fire can dramatically increase fire loss as experienced in the July 2003 condominium fire at Sixth and Bell.

DISPATCH

Emergency dispatch is provided by SNOCOM, a governing consortium operated by Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Brier, Mill Creek, and Woodway. The individual member assessment is based on a funding formula: 23 percent on assessed value, 23 percent on population, and 54 percent based on the number of responses. Within Edmonds, the annual increase is split 70-25-5 between Police, Fire, and Public Works, respectively. The 2003 Fire Department payment to SNOCOM is $153,891. Councilmember Deanna Dawson and Chief Thomas J. Tomberg serve on the SNOCOM Board in 2004.

FIRE AND EMS CONTRACTS

Edmonds provides fire protection and EMS services under contract to:

• Town of Woodway
  ~ $288,613 contract in 2004
  ~ 48 emergency calls in 2003
  ~ contract in effect since 1984.
   

• Fire District 1 for the Esperance Area
  ~ $228,477 contract in 2004
  ~ 224 emergency calls in 2003
  ~ contract in effect since 1996
  ~ 20-year agreement signed in 1995 to purchase the Esperance
      Fire Station
  ~ in 2004, will pay Fire District 1 $65,953 on the 20-year note for the
      station.

AUTOMATIC AID

Edmonds has formal automatic aid agreements with Fire District 1/Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood to share resources and automatically send the closest available units to emergency incidents regardless of jurisdictional borders. In more traditional mutual aid agreements, mutual aid is requested from surrounding jurisdictions when the scope of a single incident or series of incidents exceeds the resources of the responsible agency.

A more advanced version of mutual aid is automatic aid in which the closest unit(s) is sent automatically by SNOCOM without being requested, without regard to jurisdiction, and without charge or payment among fire service co-operators. In 2003, Edmonds provided resources 486 times, and received outside assistance 663 times.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

The Fire Chief serves as the Disaster Coordinator and represents the City on the seven-city Emergency Services Coordinating Agency (ESCA). ESCA is charged with coordinating regional response to area-wide disasters. The communities served are Brier, Edmonds, Kenmore (King County), Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Mountlake Terrace, and Woodway. The funding formula is based on population. In 2004, Edmonds will pay ESCA $56,543.

SUPPORT SEVEN

Started in 1973, the Support Seven Program is a volunteer Chaplain ministry composed of 30 local residents who are trained to care for victims who have experienced an unexpected crisis or  traumatic event. Support Seven not only cares for victims, family, and friends after a significant emergency event, but also provides on-scene canteen and rehabilitation services for emergency personnel. In 2003, Support Seven responded to 49 requests for assistance in Edmonds.

EDMONDS FIRE SAFETY FOUNDATION

Founded in 1995, the Edmonds Fire Safety Foundation is a non-profit group of local citizens involved in charitable and educational causes related to the various Department missions. They have been extensively involved in fund-raising activities that include the purchase of two Argus Thermal Imaging Cameras (1996 and 2003), water rescue suits, self-contained breathing apparatus voice amplification units, and heavy-rescue tools. Every dollar the Foundation raises to acquire emergency tools and equipment saves taxpayers' money and enhances the level of emergency response and performance.

In 2003, the EFSF conducted a special campaign to raise over $10,000 to reacquire the restored 1938 Ford Fire Engine that served Edmonds into the 1970s.

CENTENNIAL

In 2004, the Fire Department will celebrate 100 years of uninterrupted service to Edmonds. The Edmonds Fire Safety Foundation is planning to sponsor a variety of celebratory events.

DONATIONS

Edmonds is made up of very generous people. Each year the Fire Department receives donations from community members in appreciation for superior service or to remember a loved one or friend. All donated funds are used to acquire tools and equipment to enhance the delivery of emergency service to Edmonds citizens.