Fairbanks Firefighters Association
Guide to Answering Frequently Asked Questions:
This document is intended to assist City of Fairbanks representatives with answering some of the difficult questions you may be faced regarding the Fairbanks Fire Department from members of the public. Understanding the complex issues regarding the fire department and the way it operates takes a thorough understanding of a broad range of topics and information. Since public officials need to be informed on such a wide range of topics, the Fairbanks Firefighters Association compiled this information to assist you with fire department specific questions.
This document was compiled by the Fairbanks Firefighters Association, L1324. All statistical information was taken from the City of Fairbanks budget, the Fairbanks Fire Department’s Annual Report or other statistical reports, and the collective bargaining agreement between the FFA and the City of Fairbanks. This or similar information will be posted on our website, www.fairbanksfirefighters.org, very soon.
Please feel free to speak to any member of the PR committee or executive board of the Fairbanks Firefighters Association if you would like any further information.
1. Why do we need a fire department?
A fire department is a key element of the basic infrastructure of any community. As a community grows and prospers it seeks to attract businesses to that community. These businesses provide jobs and pay the largest share of the municipal tax base.
A well-equipped and properly trained municipal fire department plays a vital role in attracting businesses to the community by keeping the cost of insurance lower. Lower insurance rates equals more profits for businesses. Private property owners benefit as well with lower insurance rates.
It’s more than money that underlies the need for a fire department. The fire department’s first priority is saving lives – protecting the citizens of the community by the best means possible. This has broadened the mission of the fire department over the past 20 years from only extinguishing fires to a wide range of disciplines: emergency medical services, hazardous material response and mitigation, water and ice rescue, trench rescue, high angle and confined space rescue, vehicle extrication, terrorism response and more. Lives are also saved through proactive measures: fire prevention programs in local schools, fire inspections of businesses, plan reviews of new construction to ensure it meets fire codes, and life safety programs throughout the community that address far more than fire.
2. What is ISO and how does it affect my insurance rates?
Whether we like it or not, paying for insurance is a fact of life. Homeowner and business insurance companies use many factors when determining the cost of your premiums. One major factor is the level of fire protection. Most insurance carriers use what is known as ISO to determine the quality of fire protection available and therefore establish insurance rates.
ISO stands for Insurance Service Organization. This is a group of trained, professional evaluators that assess almost every fire department in the U.S. ISO uses a consistent set of guidelines to evaluate a fire department. ISO bases a fire department’s rating on many factors including the number of personnel on duty, training level of personnel (paid or volunteer), the amount of water the fire department can get to a fire, the amount and quality of equipment used (such as fire engines and hand tools), and fire department dispatching (evaluates the dispatch centers ability to handle 911 calls). The purpose of ISO is to give insurance companies a uniform system on which to base their insurance premiums.
For an insurance company knowing the capabilities of a fire department is important. The better the fire department, the better protected a building is from fire damage and loss. The higher the level of protection, the less likely an insurance company will have to reimburse a claim for fire damage. The fewer number of claims, the lower the cost for the insurance provider. Of course fire protection can work the opposite way. A sub-par fire department will experience more fire losses. More fire losses means more insurance claims filed. In order to make costs meet, the insurance companies raise the premiums you pay.
ISO gives a ranking of 1 through 10, with 1 being the best and 10 being no protection at all. Currently the City of Fairbanks Fire Department has an ISO rating of 3. The Fairbanks Fire Department could easily achieve an ISO rating of 2 with an increase in staffing. The cost in tax dollars to increase staffing and improve the ISO rating would be offset by the cumulative reduction in insurance costs to local homes and businesses.
3. Why do firefighters work a 24 hour shift?
The bottom line - firefighters working a 24 hour shift saves the public money. It is the most efficient way to staff the fire department, which is why it is done nationwide. No schedule for firefighters is more predominant.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exempts firefighters from certain overtime rules. These exemptions allow firefighters to work their usual 24 hour shift at straight time wages. Other professions receive overtime any time an 8 hour work day is exceeded. Firefighters do not receive overtime wages during their normal 24 hour work period. There are provisions in FLSA under which firefighters may receive an additional ½ time pay for up to 3 hours a week if NO annual leave, sick leave, Military leave or workers compensation time is taken This has a low occurrence rate and can be further explained upon request.
24 hour shifts provide the most personnel on duty with the fewest number of actual employees, saving personnel costs on health care and retirement.
Example: The police department has 44 officers, with 36 assigned to patrol. These 36 employees, working 10 hour shifts, maintain a minimum staffing of 4 of officers on duty at all times. The fire department is able to maintain a minimum staffing of 9 firefighters per shift, 24 hours each day with 36 suppression employees.
4. How much does the fire department cost? How much do I pay for fire protection?
It is important to remember that your fire department is an asset and a bargain to the community. The Fairbanks Fire Department saves the community (residents and businesses) far more than it costs. Ask your insurance provider what your rates would be in an ISO class 10 (no fire protection) or an ISO class 8 fire area. That change in rates, from our current ISO rating of 3, multiplied by all city residents and businesses would far exceed the Fairbanks Fire Departments current budget.
The Fairbanks Fire Department in 2006 was budgeted $5,077,870 by the city council. The fire department also generates about $900,000.00 revenue via ambulance fees and $60,000.00 of revenue from building plan revues, off setting just under $1,000,000.00 dollars of our budget.
As a taxpayer, you probably wonder how much you pay for fire, rescue, and EMS coverage. This is probably the most important question that could be asked. All taxes and fees collected by the city are placed into the general fund. From the general fund all city departments and expenses are paid. The general fund spent $26,297,038 in 2006. The City of Fairbanks Fire Department received $5,077,870. The fire department accounted for 19.31% of the general fund spending (19.31% of $26,297,038 is $5,077,870).
This means is 19.31% of your city taxes go to the Fairbanks Fire Department and ambulance service. This is 19.31% of city taxes- NOT borough taxes. The City of Fairbanks collected property tax at a mill rate of 6.9 in 2006. The fire department’s 19.31% share is 1.332 mills. If you account for revenue generated by the fire department through ambulance fees and inspection fees the adjusted mill rate is a mere 1.07 mills.
So to answer the question, a $240,000.00 home paid $293.04 in 2006 for fire and ambulance protection. If this amount was divided into a weekly sum a $240,000.00 home pays $5.64 a week, the price of two 16 ounce lattés. For the price of a few beverages your family, home and property are protected by the Fairbanks Fire Department.
5. Is the Fairbanks Fire Department very efficient?
The Fairbanks Fire Department is the only full time career municipal based fire department within the Fairbanks North Star Borough. When compared to the area’s volunteer, combination (part paid/part volunteer), and student based fire departments, FFD has the lowest average cost per call. Fairbanks Fire does run more calls than any other department in the area (in fact, we run more than most of these departments combined), but as run volume grows so must infrastructure. This makes the cost per call method (runs/budget) a fair representation. This clearly demonstrates that our department is well organized and extremely efficient.
Your firefighters are also cross trained as paramedics, EMTs, hazardous materials technicians, rescue technicians and much more. This “cross training” makes very efficient use of personnel.
Finally, The 24 hour shift worked by Fairbanks firefighters is the most efficient method of scheduling to maintain the most firefighters in the station, utilizing the fewest number of employees.
6. Is a private fire department cheaper?
No. There are many problems associated with privatization of essential services. Though privatization works well in industry through competition, privatization has failed in most cases in the fire service. Extreme waste and excessive costs, as has recently occurred with military contracts in Iraq, is a good example of what occurs when private companies provide essential services with no competition.
Privatization was a trend in public service for a few short years in an effort to reduce the costs of fire and EMS to the community. This trend was short lived, and now the majority of communities that tried private fire protection have cancelled their contracts and have gone back to a municipal based fire service. Communities found that the service level suffered when the primary goal of the contractor was to make a profit, not to provide the best service possible to the citizens. The costs to the taxpayers through subscription fees or local taxes to subsidize the contractor exceeded the costs of the municipal based service. The private contractor’s service was consistently judged to be inferior as well.
The city of Scottsdale, Arizona, was the “flagship” for Rural-Metro Corporation until recently. Scottsdale has switched back to a municipal based system to better meet the needs of the community. Though a few do exist, there are very few private municipal fire departments. Most private fire departments are contract fire brigades for industry, contractors providing fire protection to airports, and contracts to assist in wildland firefighting. A recent search online yielded no results for current private for-profit municipal fire departments.
Finally, private for profit fire departments are not eligible for Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters grants, and many other federal grants. Our community would have missed out on over $4,835,604 of grants received over the past few years. This money directly offsets city and taxpayer expenses.
7. How much money do firefighters make?
As city employees our wage is considered public information. Unfortunately the numbers often quoted are inaccurate and inflated. The wages of individual firefighters are divided by job position, with increases for qualifications (such as paramedics) and longevity. Wages are set by a negotiated contract between the City of Fairbanks and the Fairbanks Firefighters Association. A new hire or recruit firefighter starts at $14.19 an hour. The most senior and highest ranking individual receives $29.51 an hour. The average hourly wage of the fire department is $23.26 including all incentive pay. Hourly wages is the fairest way to compare employees, and Fairbanks firefighter’s wages are consistent with many other technical professionals and skilled labor.
In the past annual salaries were published to show how “overpaid” members of the fire department were. The numbers published belonged to the highest paid individuals (Battalion Chiefs with 20 years on the job) and included overtime and the dollar value of benefits such as healthcare and retirement. This created a misleading and inflated salary seeking to incite a negative public reaction.
One other component that makes a firefighter’s annual wages appear high is that firefighters work 56 hours a week, all at a straight time wage. Firefighters do not receive overtime during their normal 24 hour shift due to an exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act (See question #3). This means a firefighter works 2912 scheduled hours a year. Someone working a 40 hour a week job works 2080 scheduled hours per year. The difference of 832 hours accounts for the annual wages of firefighters appearing much higher than other professionals.
Example: A firefighter makes $14.19 per hour X 2912 hours = $41,321.28. A retail employee makes $14.19 per hour X 2080 hours = $29,515.20.
Now if that same retail employee worked an equal number of hours those additional 832 hours would be at a minimum overtime rate of $21.29. This would result in additional $17,713.28 for the retail employee, for a total of $47,228.48. This is $5,907.20 more than the firefighter for the same hours worked.
8. Why don’t we use volunteers?
Unfortunately, most people equate the word “volunteer” with free. Most of the area volunteer, combination, and student based fire departments have budgets between $100,000.00 and $2.55 million dollars. These departments handle annual run volumes between 69 calls to 1,109 calls, respectively. The City of Fairbanks handles almost 4,000 calls a year plus performs building plan reviews, fire inspections and numerous other public services - for just over $5,000,000.00 annually. The city fire department has the lowest cost per call of any department within the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
Volunteers are an asset to their community and fill an important role in some areas. It is important to note that all Fairbanks area fire departments maintain some paid staff. Unfortunately, the demands of everyday life on the average citizen preclude them from volunteering. It has been extremely difficult for area departments to recruit and maintain a sufficient consistent volunteer corps. Many fire chiefs are struggling to find sufficient numbers of volunteers to handle a few calls a week, especially during the daytime when people work and on holidays. People understandably prioritize their jobs and families first, leaving little time to volunteer.
To meet the minimum requirements of a Fairbanks firefighter a volunteer would require 160 hours or more of basic firefighter training, 120 hours of emergency medical technician training (not including the 1,200 hours or more required to become a paramedic), 40 hours of hazardous materials technician training, a minimum of 80 hours of various rescue technician training, and annual federally mandated training in HIPPA, blood borne pathogens, and various other refresher classes. These are just the initial training requirements, now how many additional hours can they contribute for emergency calls and shifts at the fire station? To be effective they need to be available in the station to guarantee enough responders 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Finally, let’s address the expense to the taxpayers. ISO requires six volunteers to count as equal staffing as one career firefighter. This ratio may be improved to 3:1 if sufficient documentation and records are kept. With 36 current suppression employees, to maintain similar staffing would require well over 200 volunteers. It would be cost prohibitive and almost impossible to recruit, train, and manage this many volunteers. The level of service the public currently enjoys could not be guaranteed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Additionally, it costs almost $2,000.00 dollars each to equip a volunteer, not including the $4,000.00 radio, required medical examinations, and training expenses.
There is an additional cost to transitioning to a volunteer fire department. The city’s ISO rating would fall from its current class 3 to an 8, with potential improvement to a class 6 over multiple years. This would cost city residents and businesses collectively more through increased insurance rates than the current fire department budget.
9. How does the fire department get all their new equipment?
Much of the capital equipment our fire department has was purchased whole or in part with grant monies from the State of Alaska or the federal government. This equipment includes engines (pumpers), aerials (ladder trucks), ambulances, training for firefighters, protective clothing (turnouts) for firefighters, and lots of fire and rescue equipment. Some of these grants have been for fire prevention activities and equipment. This is extremely important as these actions help prevent emergencies from occurring instead of just reacting to emergencies that have already happened. These grants have greatly enhanced our capabilities at minimal cost to city residents.
Over the last five years the Fairbanks Fire Department has received $4,835,604.00 in grants, not including the grant for the new fire station. Portions of these grants came from the State of Alaska and a large amount came from the U.S. Government. All of these grants were received through the Fairbanks Fire Department. Of these grants received about 65% went directly to Fairbanks Fire Department operations while the remainder supported public safety through upgrades to the Fairbanks Police Department, Public Works, Information Services, Dispatch, and even other local area fire departments. If the value of these grants was divided evenly over the last five years, it would amount to almost $1,000,000.00 annually. This is a large sum of money that does not have to come from local taxpayers. Private fire departments would not be eligible for these same grants.
10. Who paid for the new fire station?
The fire station at 12th and Cushman was paid for by the State of Alaska through a grant to the City of Fairbanks. Fairbanks voters passed a bond to build the station, and the State of Alaska is reimbursing the bond payments in full. The building cost approximately 7.5 million dollars. While this may seem like a lot, remember that the State of Alaska receives most of it’s funding from oil revenue. The money spent did not come from local taxpayers.
The new fire station was desperately needed. The previous station on 7th Avenue had outlived its life expectancy. That station, built in 1959 and paid for by a federal grant, was in disrepair and did not meet current building and safety codes. The estimated cost to repair and upgrade the building almost equaled the cost of building a new state of the art facility. Repair and upgrade costs probably would have had to be paid by the City of Fairbanks and Fairbanks taxpayers.
11. Why do so many fire trucks go on a car accident?
The Fairbanks Fire Department uses a nationally recognized and accredited dispatching system. This system determines what type of a response from the fire department is necessary based on information given to us by the person who calls 911. This system errs on the side of caution, ensuring that every resource that is needed responds to the emergency in a timely fashion.
Often times, things are not as “simple” as they look. To ensure each member of the public receives the best possible care, we always anticipate the worse case scenario and hope for the best. Each fire truck has a specific purpose and carries specialized equipment.
For a motor vehicle accident you will see one ambulance (perhaps two if multiple injuries are reported), a rescue truck which carries the “jaws of life” and other special rescue equipment, a fire engine for manpower and in case the car catches fire, and a battalion chief to supervise the scene.
This may appear to be a lot, but each is necessary to provide the consistent, professional service you expect and deserve. When it is a life and death scenario, and seconds count, you want all of the equipment immediately available.
12. Why do fire trucks sometimes turn off their lights and sirens after going through an intersection?
Fire trucks and ambulances use lights and sirens to warn the public and clear traffic while en route to an emergency call.
There is an element of risk every time a fire truck or ambulance drives through town with their lights and sirens on. Accidents while going to and from emergency calls are the second leading cause of death for firefighters. When a fire department representative arrives on the scene and finds the situation is not as serious as they were led to believe, they will “downgrade” or cancel the rest of the fire department response. “Downgrade” means to have them continue without their lights and sirens, reducing the risk to the firefighters and the public. This also reduces the disruption to normal traffic flow.
13. Why is there so much overtime?
In 2006 there was 7,956 hours of overtime worked by fire department employees, totaling $292,111.00. The fire department has a goal to reduce overtime to below $200,000.00 and has made progress towards this goal as this was a reduction in overtime hours from 2004 and 2005.
The largest factor in creating overtime is UNDERSTAFFING. The city has historically maintained the minimum number of employees it can, instead of what they need to provide the best service. It should also be recognized that often paying overtime is cheaper than the cost of hiring additional employees and paying the associated retirement and health care benefits. In short, overtime can be a net savings to the city and its taxpayers.
14. Why do I see firefighters at stores while they are working?
Remember that not all the firefighters you see at area stores, coffee stands, and restaurants are from the Fairbanks Fire Department. Many other fire departments come into the city to shop and are often mistaken for Fairbanks firefighters.
Firefighters work a 24 hour shift and must remain in the station or in a fire department vehicle available for emergency response at all times. Therefore, all of the firefighter’s meals are eaten in the station. Firefighters using their own money are permitted to go to the store during the day to purchase items needed for these meals.
Many other times Fairbanks Fire Department vehicles are at local businesses on official business such as inspections, performing training or education, or even answering questions or complaints. There are many public services performed by your fire department on a daily basis.
Finally, firefighters also routinely shop for needed fire department supplies and equipment.
Take advantage of this opportunity to interact with the firefighters and ask questions. Just don’t be offended if they have to rush off.
15. What are some of the ways Fairbanks Firefighters are active in our community?
The union firefighters of the City of Fairbanks Fire Department are active in our community in many ways. Numerous members are active in local churches, youth sports, civic groups and other local organizations.
The firefighters are also very active with local charities;
· Through payroll deduction the City Firefighters donate over $4,400.00 a year to the United Way of Fairbanks.
· Fairbanks firefighters raised approximately $10,000.00 in 2006 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association during their annual “Fill the Boot” campaign.
· The Fairbanks Firefighters Association (Firefighters Union) budgets 7% of its annual union dues, over $5,000.00, to be used for charitable donations.
· Many Fairbanks Firefighters participate in the annual St. Baldrick’s charity event. Firefighters shave their heads for donations to raise funds for children’s cancer research.
· In 2001 the Fairbanks Firefighters raised over $25,000.00 through the sale of specially designed T-shirts for the New York fallen firefighters fund following 9-11.
16. How do the Fairbanks Firefighters spend their days? Are they just sitting around waiting for emergencies?
Remember, the FFD responds to far more than fires. The fire department responds to medical emergencies, they go on hazardous materials responses and all types of rescues. They even assist city residents and businesses to stop property loss after a ruptured pipe or water leak.
In addition to responding to over 3,800 calls per year, or over 10 calls per day, the fire department keeps busy with many other activities. When not responding to emergencies you may find us testing hose (over 3.5 miles of it), testing some of our 1,300 fire hydrants, testing our fire trucks, taking training classes (over 5,000 cumulative hours per year), cleaning the fire stations, washing the fire trucks or out conducting fire prevention activities in the 9 public schools we protect.
We will even come to your house, check your smoke detector and replace it with a free one if necessary. The Fire Prevention Division performs building inspections and construction plan reviews.
17. Comparing City Employees to the Fairbanks “Per Capita” Income:
The “per capita” income of a Fairbanks resident is often misrepresented and used to compare city employee wages to that of other city residents. The motive is to insinuate city employees are over compensated when compared to the general public. The numbers used are very misleading. The term “average wage” is not correct, from the numbers being cited they are actually referencing the “per capita wage” listed by the US Census.
Statements made at City Council meetings and on local talk radio refer to a “per capita” income of $19,814 within the City limits. These are usually compared to a “cost per employee” of city workers. This “cost per employee” includes wages, overtime, retirement and health care expenses.
This “per capita” number comes from the U.S. Census data for the City of Fairbanks in 2000. Per capita income does not accurately reflect the income of individuals working in Fairbanks.
Per capita income is determined by dividing the total wages earned in the city and dividing by the number of TOTAL residents. What this means is that children and the elderly are included in tabulating the data. Therefore, according to the U.S census a 6 year old child has an income of $19,814. Any doctor, lawyer or business owner living within the city also has a “per capita” income of $19,814.
A closer look at the Census Data for Fairbanks shows a total population of 30,224. The actual working, wage earning population is listed as only 15,830. This means that only 52% of the cities residents earn a wage. Of course the per capita wage is low because half of the surveyed people had an income of zero. This number may seem low; however remember that the majority of the Fairbanks regions low income housing is within the City.
Extrapolating the census data and dividing the total of wages earned within the city by the ACTUAL number of workers shows that their “per capita” income is approximately $37,830. (*1) Therefore, $ 37,830 is a far more accurate reflection of a Fairbanks resident’s income per available census data.
A comparison is often made between city employee wages (including retirement and health benefits) and “per capita earnings”. Using this “per capita” approach, a city employee makes equivalent to the general population.
Example 1: A Fairbanks Fire Department Captain makes $73,000 a year in normal gross wage. If that Captain had a spouse and 2 children, his household would consist of four people. His wage of $73,000 equates to a per capita earning for that household of $18,250. ($73,000 / 4 people) This is less then the misquoted general Fairbanks “per capita” earning of $19,814.
Example 2: A starting Firefighter makes $41,000 a year in normal gross wage. If that firefighter had a spouse and child, his household of three people would have a per capita earning of $13,667.
As you can see from the examples above, the use of “per capita earnings” is grossly inaccurate. It does not reflect upon the economic realties of Fairbanks. City workers should not be criticized over the census data, because in an equal comparison, city workers make less then the general public.
Stating that the population of Fairbanks earns so little, is counter intuitive. The subdivisions of Hamilton acres, Shannon Park, Island homes, Riverview and Taku compose a large portion of the cities population. The affluence of these neighborhoods does not indicate a poverty level existence by the populace as indicated by the “per capita” income often cited.
CITATIONS:
1) This fact is based on the following:
The per capita earnings were $19,814 according to the census. There were 30,224 people counted by the census. The total wages earned in the city is equal to per capita multiplied by total population. Therefore the Cities population total wages are $598,858,336. The total workforce was 15,830 people. The total wages need to be divided by the number of wage earners. So $598,858,336 divided by 15,830 people equals $37,830. The “per capita” wage for actual workers is $37,830 a year.
This calculation reflects the U.S Census data only. It does not reflect other data sources that document wage and salary information.
