staffing up for better response stafford fire and rescue positions in budget

BY MEGHANN COTTER

A White Oak fire engine backed into its station after taking four volunteers to handle a gas leak in Heather Hills.

The company that responded was one of eight volunteer engines, a heavy rescue and ladder truck on duty at 8 p.m. last Thursday. Five paid ambulance crews also are dispersed throughout the county, ready to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With a house fire, a breathing emergency, a diabetic attack and an attempted suicide between 4:30 and 7:45 p.m., it had been a busy evening and plenty of rescue workers were still hanging around after answering the calls.

But the night got quiet quickly. Basketball games on TV wound down, officer meetings ended and sleep beckoned the volunteers back to their homes.

Just the five paid ambulance crews, four volunteer engine units and one staffed rescue station were left to cover the entire county. That's one heavy rescue vehicle and one ladder truck short to handle a single house fire.

It was the same the night before and dropped to just three volunteer engine units through the day.

"This is not something that happens on a sporadic basis. It's a daily basis," Stafford Fire and Rescue Chief Rob Brown told supervisors last week.

Lost time

Only half of all emergency calls in Stafford were answered under the goal of eight minutes last year. A person without oxygen faces brain damage after six minutes, and fire spreads beyond the original building after seven.

Valuable time is lost when stations aren't staffed, Brown said.

Volunteers, who sometimes wait at home for a call, are paged when needed. Sometimes they'll rush to the station, get an apparatus and respond, he said, "but there are times they don't, as well."

Some recent calls in Stafford have had to be answered by Quantico or neighboring localities, Brown said.

Today's call volume and volunteer participation levels would require 219 additional paid fire and rescue workers, spread over three shifts, to guarantee service around the clock, Brown said.

The county's proposed 2008 budget makes a down payment on that need. It funds 30 new fire and rescue positions for half a year.

Those employees are slated to open the under-construction Berea station as a 24-hour hub for southern Stafford.

1 2 3 Next Page

Yellow represents areas served by stations that are staffed 90 percent of the time. Staffing at stations in green areas falls between 1 percent and 60 percent, depending on the apparatus. Units in yellow areas are often called to respond in green areas, leaving their home locations unmanned.

Aquia Harbour Rescue Volunteer ambulance staffed 12 percent

Rock Hill Rescue Paid ambulance staffed 24/7

Volunteer ambulance staffed 16 percent

Mountain View Rescue Volunteer ambulance staffed 8 percent

Stafford Rescue Volunteer ambulance staffed 12 percent

Stafford Fire Volunteer engine staffed 92 percent

Volunteer ladder truck staffed 50 percent

White Oak Rescue Volunteer ambulance staffed 7 percent

Rock Hill Fire Volunteer engine staffed 16 percent

Mountain View Fire Volunteer engine staffed 59 percent

Volunteer ladder truck staffed 2 percent

White Oak Fire Volunteer engine staffed 17 percent

Widewater Fire & Rescue Volunteer ambulance staffed 2 percent

Volunteer engine staffed 17 percent

Potomac Hills Fire & Rescue Paid ambulance staffed 24/7

Volunteer engine staffed 30 percent

Volunteer ladder truck staffed 3 percent

Volunteer heavy rescue staffed 2 percent

Falmouth Fire & Rescue Paid ambulance staffed 24/7

Volunteer engine staffed 87 percent

Volunteer heavy rescue staffed 26 percent

Brooke Fire & Rescue Paid ambulance staffed 24/7

Volunteer engine staffed 11 percent

Volunteer heavy rescue staffed 1 percent

Hartwood Fire & Rescue Paid ambulance staffed 24/7

Volunteer engine staffed 34 percent

Stafford 84 paid employees

65 positions requested

30 jobs funded half-year in proposed budget

24,000 calls annually

Spotsylvania 122 paid employees

48 positions requested

4 jobs funded half-year in proposed budget

16,000 calls annually

Fredericksburg 53 full-time and one part-time paid employee

6 positions requested through ambulance-fee funding

3 jobs funded half-year from ambulance fees in proposed budget

8,400 calls annually

Caroline 16 full-time, 11 part-time paid employees

8 positions requested

4 jobs in proposed budget

6,300 call volume

King George 21 full-time and 10 part-time paid employees

7 full-time, 1 part-time requested

5 positions in proposed budget

3,200 calls annually

COMING TOMORROW Stafford looks into retirement benefits program as way to retain volunteers.

Read more stories about Stafford
Date published: 3/26/2007

1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
2. Please avoid offensive, vulgar, abusive, hateful or defamatory language.
3. Read and follow THE RULES.
4. We will block violaters and ban repeat offenders.

Breaking News - click here to have the latest delivered to your email box or cell phone