Fairbanks Fire Department grapples with burden
City responded to 19 percent more instances of multiple ambulance calls during 2008
FAIRBANKS — The Fairbanks Fire Department received slightly more emergency calls last year than in 2007, but many of those calls came in simultaneously, stretching the department’s resources thin.
The department saw an increase of a little more than 2 percent in fire and ambulance calls in 2008, but multiple ambulance calls, which is when the department receives three or more emergency calls at the same time, went up 19 percent for the same period.
The city has about 10 firefighters on duty at any given time. Some calls, such as when a person suffers a broken leg, can be handled by two firefighters, but a serious car accident might require between six and eight firefighters on scene, said Assistant Fire Chief Ernie Misewicz.
If those two calls were to be followed by another accident, the commander on duty has to start making tough decisions about calling firefighters off the earlier calls or asking for mutual aid from another department.
But even the closest departments — Fort Wainwright, University or Steese — can take several extra minutes to get to the scene of an emergency in the city, which is precious time when a life could be on the line.
“It’s a risk involved if there’s a significant time delay,” Misewicz said. He could not say what factor or factors lead to the higher volume of calls of last year.
Such tight staffing has already had serious consequences. Firefighters were slow to respond to a fatal fire that claimed two lives at River City Court Apartments in January 2006 because they already were dealing with ambulance calls.
City Council members agreed to add three new positions to the department earlier this month after a contentious debate. That should help when there’s an influx of calls, but it doesn’t completely eliminate the problem. The department has asked for staff increases every year since 1994.
Fairbanks firefighters received 843 fire calls and 3,352 ambulance calls in 2008, up from 838 fire calls and 3,251 ambulance calls in 2007. Of the possible fire calls, 149 turned out to be actual fires, down somewhat from the 168 actual fires the department dealt with the previous year.
While fire officials in the Interior have expressed concern about an increase in fires from improperly installed or maintained wood stoves, Misewicz said most fires in the city last year were the result of unattended cooking or candles.
Still, the department already has dealt with two wood stove fires in the first few weeks of 2009, and Misewicz is worried about an increase in wood stove and electric heater fires, similar to what was seen in Fairbanks in the late ’70s and early ’80s when fuel prices soared.
One especially positive statistic from 2008, is that for the second consecutive year, there was not a single fire fatality in the city. The sole fire-related death was an incident that occurred in the Northward Building during August, when a resident suffered a fatal heart attack while cooking, and the unattended stove began smoking, causing an evacuation of the building.
That figure stands in stark contrast to the three Alaskans elsewhere in the state who lost their lives to fire in the midst of a bitter cold snap during the first week of 2009. The three deaths were the largest number of fire fatalities recorded in the first week of a year since 1996, and caused the state to issue a warning about wood stove usage.
“Over the years, we’ve seen our shares of fire fatalities in the city,” Misewicz said. “Education and early detection are all factors in survivability, or it could be pure luck too.”
Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at 459-7545.
Fairbanks Fire Department grapples with burden
City responded to 19 percent more instances of multiple ambulance calls during 2008
FAIRBANKS — The Fairbanks Fire Department received slightly more emergency calls last year than in 2007, but many of those calls came in simultaneously, stretching the department’s resources thin.
The department saw an increase of a little more than 2 percent in fire and ambulance calls in 2008, but multiple ambulance calls, which is when the department receives three or more emergency calls at the same time, went up 19 percent for the same period.
The city has about 10 firefighters on duty at any given time. Some calls, such as when a person suffers a broken leg, can be handled by two firefighters, but a serious car accident might require between six and eight firefighters on scene, said Assistant Fire Chief Ernie Misewicz.
If those two calls were to be followed by another accident, the commander on duty has to start making tough decisions about calling firefighters off the earlier calls or asking for mutual aid from another department.
But even the closest departments — Fort Wainwright, University or Steese — can take several extra minutes to get to the scene of an emergency in the city, which is precious time when a life could be on the line.
“It’s a risk involved if there’s a significant time delay,” Misewicz said. He could not say what factor or factors lead to the higher volume of calls of last year.
Such tight staffing has already had serious consequences. Firefighters were slow to respond to a fatal fire that claimed two lives at River City Court Apartments in January 2006 because they already were dealing with ambulance calls.
City Council members agreed to add three new positions to the department earlier this month after a contentious debate. That should help when there’s an influx of calls, but it doesn’t completely eliminate the problem. The department has asked for staff increases every year since 1994.
Fairbanks firefighters received 843 fire calls and 3,352 ambulance calls in 2008, up from 838 fire calls and 3,251 ambulance calls in 2007. Of the possible fire calls, 149 turned out to be actual fires, down somewhat from the 168 actual fires the department dealt with the previous year.
While fire officials in the Interior have expressed concern about an increase in fires from improperly installed or maintained wood stoves, Misewicz said most fires in the city last year were the result of unattended cooking or candles.
Still, the department already has dealt with two wood stove fires in the first few weeks of 2009, and Misewicz is worried about an increase in wood stove and electric heater fires, similar to what was seen in Fairbanks in the late ’70s and early ’80s when fuel prices soared.
One especially positive statistic from 2008, is that for the second consecutive year, there was not a single fire fatality in the city. The sole fire-related death was an incident that occurred in the Northward Building during August, when a resident suffered a fatal heart attack while cooking, and the unattended stove began smoking, causing an evacuation of the building.
That figure stands in stark contrast to the three Alaskans elsewhere in the state who lost their lives to fire in the midst of a bitter cold snap during the first week of 2009. The three deaths were the largest number of fire fatalities recorded in the first week of a year since 1996, and caused the state to issue a warning about wood stove usage.
“Over the years, we’ve seen our shares of fire fatalities in the city,” Misewicz said. “Education and early detection are all factors in survivability, or it could be pure luck too.”
Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at 459-7545.
