Minnesota Fire Service News - FAQ History Of Minnesota Fire Training

A Needs Assessment of the Fire Service

MINNESOTA

June 2004

John R. Hall, Jr., Ph.D.
Michael J. Karter, Jr.
Fire Analysis & Research Division
NFPA
1 Batterymarch Park
Quincy, MA 02169-7471

Fire Service Needs Assessment - MINNESOTA NFPA Fire Analysis & Research, Quincy, MA

FOREWORD
When the national results of the first comprehensive study of the needs of the U.S. fire
service were released in 2002 by NFPA for Congress, I described it as a call to action.
That study showed clearly that most fire departments in the U.S. severely lack resources
to respond to challenging incidents like terrorism.

Today's fire service is a broad-spectrum emergency-response service, as well as a leader
in the drive to prevent emergencies. In area after area of critical importance to our safety,
fire departments are attempting to operate with insufficient personnel, equipment, and
training. Nowhere is this shortfall more evident than in the area of terrorism
preparedness.

Now firefighters are faced with additional needs, including specialized training and
equipment to combat terrorism. In all sizes of communities, most departments don’t have
that training or that equipment.

This concise state version of the needs assessment for your fire service will help
policymakers and others closely examine where individual shortfalls exist and work
toward providing greater safety for citizens in your state and the firefighters who protect
them.

James M. Shannon
President
NFPA
May 2004

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study is based on data collected in a cooperative study by NFPA and the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Fire
Administration. Thanks to the many people in the USFA whose comments, ideas, and
recommendations shaped our approach. Particular thanks to Project Officer Mark A.
Whitney, who not only provided sound technical guidance but also helped us through
innumerable procedural steps.

Thanks to the many fire departments who carefully reviewed their departments’
capabilities and described those capabilities in forms submitted to us for use in this study.
Thanks to the many individuals who guided us in selecting the most important questions
to ask and the most appropriate interpretations of answers received. These include our
Technical Advisory Group:

• Steve Coffman, Captain, Dallas (TX) Fire Department
• Arthur Cota, Director, California Fire Service Training
• Robert DiPoli, Chief, Needham (MA) Fire Department
• Jeff Dyar, U.S. Fire Administration
• Dr. James Genovese, US Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command, Aberdeen Proving Grounds
• Joseph Kay, Battalion Chief, Dallas (TX) Fire Department
• Eric Lamar, International Association of Fire Fighters
• Edward Plaugher, Chief, Arlington County (VA) Fire Department
• Ernest Russell, State Fire Marshal, Illinois
• Gary Santoro, Fire Marshal, Wethersfield (CT) Fire Department
• Heather Schafer, Executive Director, National Volunteer Fire Council
• Eric Tolbert, formerly Administrator, North Carolina Emergency Management, and currently on staff with FEMA
• Jeff Wagoner, Campbell County (WY) Fire Department
• Mark A. Whitney, Fire Programs Specialist, U.S. Fire Administration

We also received extensive and essential comments at several stages from colleagues at NFPA:

• Gary Tokle, Assistant Vice President, Public Fire Protection Division
• Carl Peterson, Assistant Director, Public Fire Protection Division
• Steven Foley, Senior Fire Service Specialist, Public Fire Protection Division
• Bruce Teele, Senior Fire Service Specialist, Public Fire Protection Division
• Rita Fahy, Manager – Fire Data Bases and Systems, Fire Analysis & Research Division

Lastly, thanks to the administrative personnel at NFPA, whose painstaking attention to
detail and extended hours of work were instrumental in transforming a set of questions
and a stack of forms into a unique database and this analysis report:

• John Baldi
• John Conlon
• Frank Deely
• Myles O’Malley
• Kevin Tape
• Norma Candeloro
• Helen Columbo
• Laurie Eisenhauer

For these state-specific reports, special thanks go to Helen Columbo for document
preparation and to Helen and Marty Ahrens for proofreading.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
PL 106-398, Section 1701, Sec. 33 (b) required that the Director of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conduct a study in conjunction with the
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to

(a) define the current role and activities associated with the fire services;
(b) determine the adequacy of current levels of funding; and
(c) provide a needs assessment to identify shortfalls.

The Fire Service Needs Assessment Survey was conducted as a census, with appropriate
adjustments for non-response. The NFPA used its own list of local fire departments as
the mailing list and sampling frame of all fire departments in the US. The Fire Service
Needs Assessment Survey was sent only to departments with administrative and
reporting responsibilities, in order to minimize double-counting. This means that the
total number of departments we contacted may be much lower than the total number of
departments in the state, as reflected in the state's own records. The data in this state
report is least affected by this discrepancy in results reported separately by community
size. Any statistics for the entire state must be used with caution and may not give
sufficient weight to conditions in the smallest communities. For Minnesota, we analyzed
responses from 417 of the 784 fire departments in the state.

Analysis of the results by state was done by NFPA after and outside of the Fire Service
Needs Assessment Survey contract. Those results have not been reviewed or approved
by anyone at the Department of Homeland Security (new parent agency of FEMA).

All statistics calculated as percents of firefighters are based on percents of departments
by population interval, combined with national figures on ratios of firefighters per
department between population intervals. Ratios have not been developed for individual
states.

Personnel and Their Capabilities

In communities with less than 2,500 population, 10% of fire departments, nearly all of them all-or mostly-volunteer departments, deliver an average of 4 or fewer volunteer firefighters to a mid-day house fire. Because these departments average only one career firefighter per department, it is likely that most of these departments often fail to deliver the minimum of 4 firefighters needed to safely initiate an interior attack on such a fire.

Of fire departments that protect communities of at least 10,000 population, 40-100%, depending on population interval, have fewer than 4 career firefighters assigned to first-due engine companies. It is likely that, for many of these departments, the first arriving complement of firefighters often falls short of the minimum of 4 firefighters needed to safely initiate an interior attack on a structure fire, thereby requiring the first-arriving firefighters to wait until the rest of the first-alarm responders arrive.

An estimated 17% of firefighters are involved in structural firefighting but lack formal training in those duties.

An estimated 25% of fire department personnel involved in delivering emergency medical services (EMS) lack formal training in those duties.

An estimated 23% of firefighters serve in fire departments with no program to maintain basic firefighter fitness and health.

Facilities, Apparatus and Equipment

An estimated 267 fire stations (28% of total fire stations) are estimated to be at least 40 years old, an estimated 574 fire stations (61%) have no backup power, and an estimated 683 fire stations (73%) are not equipped for exhaust emission control.

Using maximum response distance guidelines from the Insurance Services Office and simple models of response distance as a function of community area and number of fire stations, developed by the Rand Corporation, it is estimated that three-fifths to three-fourths of fire departments nationally have too few fire stations to meet the guidelines. Statistics specific to Minnesota have not been developed.

An estimated 385 engines (19% of all engines) are 15 to 19 years old, another 482(24%) are 20 to 29 years old, and another 318 (16%) are at least 30 years old. Therefore, 59% of all engines are at least 15 years old.

An estimated 52% of the emergency responders on a shift lack portable radios.

An estimated 40% of firefighters per shift are not equipped with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

An estimated 49% of emergency responders per shift are not equipped with personal alert system (PASS) devices.

An estimated 3% of firefighters lack personal protective clothing.

Ability to Handle Unusually Challenging Incidents

Only 12% of fire departments can handle a technical rescue with EMS at a structural collapse of a building with 50 occupants with local trained personnel.

36% of all departments consider such an incident outside their scope.
Only 10% can handle the incident with local specialized equipment.
Only 23% have a written agreement to direct use of non-local resources.
All needs are greater for smaller communities.

Only 8% of fire departments can handle a hazmat and EMS incident involving chemical/biological agents and 10 injuries with local trained personnel.

38% of all departments consider such an incident outside their scope.
Only 7% can handle the incident with local specialized equipment.
Only 15% have a written agreement to direct use of non-local resources.
All needs are greater for smaller communities.

Only 28% of fire departments can handle a wildland/urban interface fire affecting 500 acres with local trained personnel.

25% of all departments consider such an incident outside their scope.
Only 22% can handle the incident with local specialized equipment.
Only 42% have a written agreement to direct use of non-local resources.

Only 13% of fire departments can handle mitigation of a developing major flood with local trained personnel.

53% of departments consider such an incident outside their scope.
Only 12% can handle the incident with local specialized equipment.
Only 9% have a written agreement to direct use of non-local resources.

Never Forget 343 Gave It All On 9-11-2001

A Needs Assessment of the Fire Service

MINNESOTA

June 2004

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