Longview fire officials calling for additional equipment
Saturday, August 2, 2008 11:38 PM PDT
By Amy M.E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleLongview Fire Department officials say they'll likely need to ask voters for tax increases if they're going to be able to provide adequate fire and emergency medical services in the years ahead.
Saying Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue, a rural fire and ambulance service, already is picking up too much of the city's service load, consultants have recommended a variety of options for solving the problem-and none of them are cheap.
"It's really up to the voters to determine what level of service it is they choose to support," Longview Fire Chief Daryl McDaniel said last week.
With calls for service rising in outlying areas and population growth in Lexington, Cowlitz 2 wants to focus more on providing its district with prompt fire and ambulance service and pull back somewhat on its assistance to Longview Fire, said Alan Headley, Cowlitz 2 Assistant Fire Chief.
Staffed by a combination of paid and volunteer firefighters, Cowlitz 2 has stations in Baker's Corner in West Longview, Columbia Heights, Lexington, Kelso, Rose Valley and Bunker Hill.
"We want transport units to be available to all citizens in the area," Headley said in a joint interview with McDaniel at Longview Fire headquarters. Also, Headley said, it's not fair to Cowlitz 2's taxpayers to subsidize Longview's fire service so heavily.
As it is, about 12 times a month-which amounts to 6 1/2 hours-there aren't any ambulances available, McDaniel said. Also, both agencies' fire response times are slower than accepted state standards.
If Cowlitz 2 focuses less on Longview, the city must find a solution to fill the gaps in service and figure out how to pay for additional fire trucks, ambulances the staff to operate them.
Money for the necessary fire department services couldn't come out of the city's general fund without cutting other city departments' budgets, said City Manager Bob Gregory.
Because the city coffers don't contain enough funds, the City Council is considering asking Longview voters to raise the limit on property taxes and/or approve an Emergency Medical Services levy. The council is expected to make a decision by next year.
"There's a lot of details to work out to put something on the ballot," Gregory said Friday.
According to consultants from the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments, Longview Fire has these options:
• Buy three ambulances (it doesn't have any now) and one additional fire engine (it now has three). In this scenario, American Medical Response, the privately owned ambulance service that handles Longview calls, would be replaced with a public ambulance service run by the city of Longview. Cost: about $3.9 million.
• Buy one fire engine and help AMR pay for an additional ambulance. The fire unit would also respond to EMS calls to provide basic medical service. Cost: about $1.6 million.
• Buy two fire trucks with basic EMS equipment that would respond to all medical calls first. AMR would continue providing ambulance service (with paramedics who can administer drugs and transport patients, which the basic EMS fire trucks can't do). The fire trucks also would respond to fire calls. Cost: about $2 million.
"There's lots of tentacles and complexities in this thing that really need to be sorted out before making a decision," Gregory said. "I think the jury's out on all three options."
The first option listed above is the most expensive, but it would give the city the most flexibility, Gregory said. Funding it would require a 55-cent-per-$1,000 levy-lid lift, which would cost the owner of a $170,000 Longview home an extra $94 per year in property taxes.
In addition, the first option would require voters to approve an EMS levy of 50 cents per $1,000 assessed property value. That would cost the same homeowner an extra $85 per year. The combined total would add $179 a year to that Longview homeowner's property tax bill.
The other two options would cost that homeowner $107 and $105 a year, respectively.
If voters decided they couldn't afford any tax hikes, could they live with the level of risk involved with gaps in emergency service? If not, the council would be forced to cut back on city services paid for with general fund monies, such as police, parks, library, engineering and building and planning, Gregory said.
"I do not want this to come across as a scare tactic. We have a responsibility to let the community know what our current capabilities are," he said.
The existing level of service is riddled with holes, local fire agencies agree. The problem is, the private ambulance company that serves Longview also handles calls throughout the county and transports patients from St. John Medical Center to hospitals in Vancouver or Portland. When AMR's ambulances are busy (it has three available around the clock and two others available during peak hours), Cowlitz 2 sends its ambulances (it has two) to Longview.
The city fire department not only covers Longview's residential, commercial and public property, it's also under contract with several riverfront industrial sites. Although the city has grown through property annexations, the fire department's staffing level has remained the same for a decade. When Longview Fire needs help fighting a blaze, Cowlitz 2 sends the only fire engine it has. In June, 80 firefighters battled a blaze at Longview Fibre, sapping the entire county's emergency response workers, McDaniel said.
The two agencies are exploring whether it would make financial sense to reorganize into a regional fire district, McDaniel said. They also are looking at building a joint fire station on Ocean Beach Highway between 38th and 46th Avenues.
Otherwise, Cowlitz 2 will replace its career firefighters at the Baker's Corner station in West Longview with volunteer firefighters, and move the paid firefighters to its Lexington and Columbia Heights stations, which have an increasingly heavy call load, Headley said.
Calls for service in 2007
Agency EMS calls Fire/other calls Total
Longview Fire 3,829 1,656 5,485
Cowlitz 2 3,550 1,434 4,984
roudy russ wrote on Aug 3, 2008 6:29 AM:
rainierguy wrote on Aug 3, 2008 8:01 AM:
Viewpoint wrote on Aug 3, 2008 11:07 AM:
Girth VonPhister wrote on Aug 3, 2008 11:24 AM:
Fire Service wrote on Aug 3, 2008 1:17 PM:
Fire Service wrote on Aug 3, 2008 1:26 PM:
You are right! They do cruise around in that "giant" ladder truck. But did you ever stop to think why they are driving around. Not only does LFD run emergency 911 calls, they also go to Elementary Schools and teach our children about fire safety and prevention. They also conduct fire inspections on local businesses, keeping them safe. Training in the fire service happens every day, and driving the apparatus is part of it. When you see them driving around there is a good reasons for it. I would much rather see them out driving around being involved in our community than not see them at all. "
Im_not_saying wrote on Aug 3, 2008 3:02 PM:
AMR is the local ambulance, each staffed with 2 people.
LFD runs engine companies with usually 3-4 firefighters per truck.
They run jointly to most medical calls. Why waste this money you ask? Because far too many people are either A) Over 300 pounds, b) Upstairs when they need 911, c) trapped in a location not easily reached, d) in urgent need of more than 1 caregivers attention (someone has to drive the ambulance) or e) any combination of the above. AMR does an excellent job of cancelling fire when they are unneeded (just listen to your scanner) - People have come to expect a minimal level of service. It's a sad reality, but no one is willing to pay for it until it is gone, or they need it. Then the same people will complain that it was not there, when they turned down the levy in the first place. I don't like paying taxes any more than the rest of you - but it seems a lot more tax receiving agencies get a lot more without any fights. "
roudy russ wrote on Aug 3, 2008 4:15 PM:
twr82 wrote on Aug 3, 2008 4:41 PM:
Girth VonPhister wrote on Aug 3, 2008 5:47 PM:
sentinel wrote on Aug 3, 2008 5:50 PM:
Girth VonPhister wrote on Aug 3, 2008 5:52 PM:
problemsolver wrote on Aug 3, 2008 6:22 PM:
Im_not_saying wrote on Aug 3, 2008 8:13 PM:
fossagrimmin wrote on Aug 3, 2008 10:44 PM:
twr82 wrote on Aug 4, 2008 8:52 AM:
Im_not_saying wrote on Aug 4, 2008 11:56 AM:
Da' Haba wrote on Aug 4, 2008 12:41 PM:
Many agencies are now looking at curtailing additional, or non-justifiable use of apparatus, and with good reason. But keep in mind that driving a fire engine (or ladder truck) is dynamically more involved than Joe Blow tooling down the road. Civilians are required to pull to the right when they hear and see lights and sirens, but they are just as likely to vapor lock and do something highly unpredictable.
Personally, I'm all for removing lights and sirens, and having fire engines follow the rules of the road. You call 911, we'll get there as traffic allows. "
Rubicon wrote on Aug 4, 2008 5:30 PM:
watermon wrote on Aug 9, 2008 10:05 AM:
What fire is the writer referring to concerning the June Fire? I knew there was a July 17 fire but never heard about a June fire also.
Thanks,
John "
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