RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY

AND CHECKLIST

STATUS

(ACHIEVED)

(NOT ACHIEVED)

(IN PROGRESS)

FIRE STATION LOCATION

1. Eliminate the duplications of the stations in the downtown area by consolidating Stations 1, 2 and 7 into a new Downtown Station that would be centrally located for the area. An almost exact central location would be the old St. John’s Hotel site on Market Street. If that location isn’t possible, then the city should seek another site within a 3 block area of the old St. John’s Hotel. If that is not possible, then as a last resort, Station 2's current location is central enough to qualify as the new station site. _______________________
2. Abandon and sell the sites at Stations 1, 7 and 2, if Station 2 is not the site for the new station. _______________________
3. Place two engine companies and a ladder company at the new Downtown Station. Given the traffic volume of Stations 1, 2, and 7, it is not practical and maybe not even possible to cover the downtown area with one engine and one ladder company. _______________________
4. Close Station 11 and sell the site. Station 11's service district will be covered by Stations 5, 9 and 13 and also through interlocal provisions as addressed in Chapter 4. This eliminates the almost 100% duplication or lost service area of Station 11. _______________________
5. Relocate Station 15 to a site in the Wilcox and Shallowford/Moore Road area and sell the current site of Station 15. This eliminates most of the current duplication and places Station 15for better access to provide major highway coverage.
6. In addition to the new Downtown Station, locate ladder companies (Quints with ladder length appropriate for the service area as equipment replacement occurs) at Stations 6, 13, 14, and 19. See Map number 2 for a full illustration of the ladder service districts. _______________________
7. Continue the pumper/ladder (Quint) company at Station 10 for coverage of the industrial area and as back-up to the ladder service district for downtown. _______________________
8. As vehicle replacement occurs (see Chapter 5), replace the pumpers with Quints (pumper/ladder combined units) at Stations 8, 17, 20, 21, 22. This will enhance the ability of each of these companies, broaden their coverage and provide full engine and half a ladder credit for ISO rating purposes. _______________________
9. Create a design committee composed of fire department personnel and contract with an architect to design a model fire station that would have interchangeable components that could be adjusted to accommodate single or multiple companies. This would standardize fire station design for all new fire stations. _______________________
10. When the annexation of the Ooltewah area and the VAPP property become final, the city should conduct a station location study factoring in any commitments made in a plan of services (related to annexation), the integrity of the city’s ISO rating and, above all, the need to provide its newest citizens with the same high quality fire protection services as received by existing citizens. This recommendation, while focusing on the Ooltewah area and the VAPP property would apply to all future annexation actions by the City of Chattanooga. _______________________

STAFFING

1. Set the minimum staff levels for engine companies at 4, ladder companies at 4, and squads at 3. Each company including squads will have a company officer as a supervisor. At no time should actual manpower fall below these levels. _______________________
2. Implement the fire station location study so there will be eighteen (18) engine companies, five (5) ladder companies and two (2) squads staffed with minimum crews and in operation within the city. _______________________
3. Hire 13 additional fire fighters so that even with all leave (sick & vacation) the minimum number of fire fighters (98) will be on duty each day. _______________________
4. Manage leave better so that no more than 16 fire fighters are off duty on any shift. _______________________
5. Implement mandatory retirement at age 65 for all fire department employees. This will comply with both state and federal law for public safety employees. _______________________
6. Annual ability testing should be conducted for all fire department employees to determine if they can perform their essential job functions. _______________________

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

1. Create one new position of Division Commander and implement the new fire department organizational structure as outlined in the detail of organizational structure and career ladder. _______________________
2. The current rank structure of the fire department should be abolished and a new rank structure and career path should be adopted as recommended by the Career Path Chart included in this chapter. _______________________
3. The fire department should be regraded for the salary compensation study based on the career path and job responsibilities as recommended in this chapter and not be graded on its current ranks or responsibilities. _______________________

INTERLOCAL COOPERATION

1. Chattanooga should join and become an active member in the Tri-State Mutual Aid Association. Chattanooga would be the largest department in the association and would benefit the other members and would itself be benefited by its membership. _______________________
2. Chattanooga should enter into an automatic aid agreement with the City of East Ridge, in which East Ridge would automatically respond with an engine company to the service district of Station 11, which has been recommended for closing in Chapter One. This enhances coverage for this area of Chattanooga without having to provide a fire station. See Map Number 3. _______________________
3. Chattanooga should enter into an automatic aid agreement with the City of East Ridge, in which Chattanooga would automatically respond with a ladder company to all ladder company calls on the eastern end of East Ridge. This allows East Ridge to avoid the cost of a ladder truck for the near future. See Map Number 3.
4. Chattanooga should enter into an automatic aid agreement with the City of Red Bank, in which Red Bank would automatically respond to all of the Chattanooga city limits outside the service area of fire station 17 and west of the city limits of Red Bank. This will provide those Chattanooga residents the same quality of service they would receive if they were within the service area of a Chattanooga fire district, without Chattanooga having to bear the cost of building and staffing another fire station. This truly maximizes Chattanooga taxpayer dollars, because at least 50 % of a new station’s service area would be outside the city limits of Chattanooga, either in an unincorporated area or within Red Bank. See Map Number 3. _______________________
5. Chattanooga should enter into an automatic aid agreement with the City of Red Bank, in which Chattanooga would automatically respond to all engine company calls on the south end of Red Bank. These calls would be answered from either Stations 17, 16 or 12 depending on the appropriateness of the call. This would save the City of Red Bank the cost of a station and staff on the south end of Red Bank. In fact, Red Bank would be able to operate with one station. See Map Number 3. _______________________
6. The City of Chattanooga should follow the recommendations in Chapter Five regarding the purchase of Quints as a replacement for engine companies in stations on the edge of the city. If this recommendation is accepted, Red Bank should agree to pay for the Quint for Station 17 in return for a 20 year automatic aid agreement for ladder company coverage on the south end of Red Bank from Station 17 and on the north end of Red Bank from Station 19. See Map Number 3. If recommendations 5 and 6are implemented, the City of Red Bank’s ISO rating should definitely reduce from a 5 to a 4 and quite possibly to a 3. This projection is based on a new ISO evaluation with all factors supporting the current rating of 5 remaining stable. _______________________
7. Chattanooga, with its reserve fleet, should coordinate with the other fire departments (cities) in Hamilton County to provide those departments with their reserve units. This would significantly reduce the overall number of reserve units required for all of the fire departments. _______________________
8. Chattanooga should thoroughly investigate the pros and cons of becoming a regional maintenance center for fire apparatus. _______________________

FIRE APPARATUS REPLACEMENT

1. Review all apparatus from the attached chart that has exceeded its recommended useful life. Determine if all of this apparatus is needed. Eliminate from the list all apparatus which has no operational usefulness. _______________________
2. Replace all needed equipment from the list using best available method of capitalization for these funds. If all of these items are needed and none can be eliminated, the total purchase price will be approximately $2,250,000.
3. Annually the fire department budget needs to have a specific line item to fund the annual depreciation of the fire apparatus fleet. While this figure may vary from year to year, if it is figured on the current fleet, the annual cost would be $242,000. _______________________
4. The only other item that remains to make the vehicle replacement fund totally self-sustaining is to fully fund the accumulated depreciation to date. This amount is $1,355,133. _______________________
5. The City of Chattanooga should pass an ordinance setting up this permanent fund and restricting its use to the replacement of fire apparatus. _______________________
6. The City of Chattanooga Fire Department should develop a standard set of both body and chassis specifications for the various types of fire apparatus used by the department. If all equipment, over time, was purchased using these specifications, much standardization of purchasing procedures and fire fighter training would be accomplished. _______________________
7. All older apparatus and vehicles that are beyond their useful service life, except for a small group of reserve apparatus, should be disposed of in the approved manner. All other surplus fire equipment should be included in this sale. The money from the sale of this equipment should be applied to the reduction of the capital costs associated with theimplementation of this program. _______________________

EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE

1. The Chattanooga Fire Department should continue to provide emergency medical care and all Chattanooga fire fighters should be first responders at the time they graduate from the basic fire fighter school.
2. All current Chattanooga fire fighters should be trained as first responders. _______________________
3. All current Chattanooga fire fighters should be trained as EMTs and under the new career ladder, all new ones will become EMTs before making the rank of Fire Fighter 2. _______________________
4. The department should up-grade the service to provide advanced life support by having at least one paramedic on each unit on each shift. _______________________
5. Fire fighters who become (and remain) paramedics should receive a $150 per month bonus pay. _______________________
6. The city should seek cost recovery on medical supplies, additional fuel usage and extra maintenance cost from the ambulance service provider.

TRAINING

1. The Training Division should set the standard in the fire department by having the best trained, most qualified individuals. The credentials and educational methods of the staff should be outstanding. _______________________
2. The Training Division should have at least 2 more full-time instructors, who are not included in the 13 staff positions recommended in Chapter 2. _______________________
3. Out service training should be expected of the Training Division staff and encouraged by the department for all employees. _______________________
4. Basic recruit training should be extended by whatever amount necessary to insure that all recruits are first responders upon graduation. _______________________
5. Emergency vehicle operations, pumper operations, and ladder operations classes should be offered by the Training Division. _______________________
6. All skills and classes necessary for a fire fighter to advance up the new fire department career ladder should be taught at the Training Division. _______________________
7. Officership skills and supervision principles should be taught at the Training Division. _______________________
8. The Chief of the Training Division should develop and teach a management and executive development class to senior level officers of the fire department. _______________________

OTHER OPERATIONAL ISSUES

1. Establish 5 Explorer Posts at strategic locations (fire stations) around the city. _______________________
2. Develop a standard pumper specification that can be used as a generic bid specification. _______________________
3. Standard operational guidelines should be developed and implemented that should apply to all personnel, stations, districts, and shifts on an equal basis. _______________________
4. Station 20 should be treated as all other stations and participate in the standard response and back-up policies. _______________________
5. The City of Chattanooga should establish a full-time Public Fire Education Officer within the Fire Department. _______________________

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