QUALITY OF SERVICES PROVIDED, STATION LOCATION AND STAFFING Alameda County Fire Department (ACFD) operates two fire stations within the City limits. Station 34 is located at 2333 Powell St, and Station 35 is located at 6303 Hollis St. Each station operates one engine company with a minimum staffing of three personnel each.
ACFD utilizes a constant staffing model as a department standard; this means that the appropriate number of personnel are available to fill all positions at each station on a daily basis. Each engine company within the City of Emeryville is capable of providing advanced life support (paramedic) services. All ACFD apparatus have a minimum of three firefighters with at least one paramedic. All ACFD firefighters are at least emergency medical technicians.
In addition to staffing from each apparatus at Stations 34 and 35, the City of Emeryville receives additional fire response services from the City of Oakland, as well as the full depth of resources of ACFD’s companies (engine, truck & rescue). These resources are built into designated responses and are also utilized on an as needed basis. Response units are utilized to ensure that the closest resources are responding in adequate numbers and that established standards of coverage are maintained within the City.
RESPONSE TIMES
ACFD has met or exceeded the contract requirement for emergency response times. The response time standard requires that the first fire unit arrive on scene within 7 minutes or less of dispatch 90% of the time. From July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2021, the first responding ACFD unit arrived on the scene, for all emergencies, within 7 minutes or less than 90% of the time.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES
Fiscal Year
All Emergency Calls
< 7-minute response
All Calls
< 7-minute response
2013-2014
90.4 90.9
2014-2015
92.0 92.5
2015-2016
91.6 91.9
2016-2017
91.4 91.9
2017-2018
92.5 92.5
2018-2019
91.3 91.2
2019-2020
90.3 90.5
2020-2021
91.7 91.6
ACFD met or exceeded the response time standard for first alarm assignments within 11 minutes of dispatch 90% of the time. These response times represent calls where each apparatus arrived on scene and the incident was confirmed at the specified location.
FIRST ALARM RESPONSE TIMES
Fiscal Year
First Alarms
< 11 minutes
First Alarms
> 11 minutes
Percentage
2013-2014
27 1
96.4 2014-2015
16 0
100
2015-2016
25 0
100
2016-2017
21 0
100
2017-2018
14 0
100
2018-2019
29 1
96.7 2019-2020
24 0
100
2020-2021
26 0
100
ADEQUACY OF SERVICES PROVIDED
Fire Protection/Response Services
EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE
ACFD provides a minimum of one paramedic on all fire apparatus in the City of Emeryville at all times. To date, the response times to EMS calls within the City have complied with the County EMS contractual requirement of 8-1/2 minutes or less 90% of the time for medical priority dispatch system (MPDS) “Priority 1-3”. In addition, ACFD provides medical oversight and a comprehensive quality improvement program as required by the City's First Responder Advance Life Support (FRALS) Agreement. ACFD has been in compliance with all applicable county and state data and certification/licensure requirements.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS RESPONSE:
ACFD has maintained a fully functioning hazardous materials team for the term of the City's contract. The team is equipped and trained to handle a variety of hazardous materials incidents including, radiological and biological incidents. The team is classified a Type I as defined by the California Office of Emergency Services. It responds and functions from specially equipped hazardous materials response units. ACFD is part of the Alameda County Mutual Aid Plan, which ensures the appropriate response to incidents that would otherwise overwhelm the fire resources in Emeryville/ACFD.
Fire Prevention Services
FIRE PREVENTION SERVICES:
Staffing for the City of Emeryville Fire Prevention Bureau consists of one Deputy Fire Marshal, a n d one Fire Code Compliance Officer. The on-site Deputy Fire Marshal provides coordination of daily activities for Fire Prevention personnel assigned to the City. The Fire Marshal is also available to attend planning and development meetings as needed and provides general oversight for the ACFD Fire Prevention activities.
Fire Investigation - ACFD provides fire investigation services to determine origin and cause. Fire Investigators are called by operational personnel when the need arises.
ACFD personnel have investigated several fires in Emeryville including two large fires that involved coordination with Emeryville Police and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Plan Review - Fire Prevention Staff review and approve plans routed by Community Development Staff. This includes building and planning referrals.
Fiscal Year
Plan Checks
2012-2013
138
2013-2014
124
2014-2015
159
2015-2016
495
2016-2017
456
2017-2018
416
2018-2019
309
2019-2020
311
2020-2021
307
Development Inspection - Development Inspections are performed at a number of stages during development process. Fire Prevention personnel inspect the water supply, fire sprinklers, hydrants, and alarm systems prior to issuing a temporary or final certificate of occupancy by the Building Department.
Post Occupancy Inspections - Fire Prevention and Operation personnel perform a variety of post occupancy inspections including state mandated inspections.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION:
The Alameda County Fire Department Public Education Unit coordinates community relations and public education requests and services. There are a variety of educational and training programs provided to the City of Emeryville. The following is a brief list of the programs offered.
Station Tours and Apparatus Visits
Personnel Emergency Preparedness (PEP) Presentations
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training
Community CPR (Hands-Only CPR)
Career Day Speakers
Public Information Notifications via Social Media & AC Alert Community Festival/Fair Participation
COST OF SERVICES
The ACFD annual budget submission to the City has followed the internal timelines and deadlines established by the City throughout the term of the contract. The annual budget submission (both narrative and budget data) is prepared in a format that corresponds to the City's budget document. Fire Department Staff and City Staff have worked cooperatively during each year's budget development process to ensure that all questions and issues are resolved to the satisfaction of the City.
The chart below summarizes the ACFD contract and budget variance over the last contract period.
ACFD CONTRACT BUDGET VS
ACTUAL FOR THE LAST CONTRACT PERIOD
Fiscal Year
Budget
Actual
Variance, $
Variance, %
2012-13
$5,320,060
$5,213,190
$106,870
2%
2013-14
$5,614,314
$5,267,090
$347,224
6.2%
2014-15
$5,697,928
$5,559,643
$138,286
2.4%
2015-16
$5,753,127
$5,580,772
$172,355
3.0%
2016-17
$6,186,266
$6,186,152
$114
0.0%
2017-18
$6,888,128
$6,673,494
$214,634
3.1%
2018-19
$7,150,514
$6,975,812
$174,702
2.4%
2019-20
$7,447,826
$7,188,668
$259,158
3.5%
2020-21
$7,848,781
$7,653,496
$195,285
2.5%
COST ANALYSIS
As a contract service provider to the City of Emeryville, the Alameda County Fire Department (ACFD) understands the importance of ensuring services are being delivered in the most cost effective and efficient manner possible. To demonstrate the value of the contract for service between the City of Emeryville and the ACFD, a comparison to a like size agency for cost per FTE and cost per company is provided in the following two tables using FY 2020-2021 adopted fire services operating budget. Both comparisons demonstrate the benefits of contracting for service with the Alameda County Fire Department.
Operating Budget
# of FTE
Cost per FTE
City of Emeryville
$7,679,586
18 $426,644
City of Pleasanton
$23,535,001
45 $523,000
Operating Budget
# of Companies
Cost per Company
City of Emeryville
$7,679,586
2 $3,839,793
City of Pleasanton
$23,535,001
5 $4,707,000
This assessment doesn't consider the enhanced services provided by the ACFD that Pleasanton doesn't offer. Enhanced services include a hazardous materials team, urban search and rescue company, bulldozer, water rescue and immediate access to any ACFD resources.
The overall cost and resource benefit of the contract clearly demonstrates an advantage to the City of Emeryville from contracting with the Alameda County Fire Department. The Alameda County Fire Department provides a unified response to emergency, centralized management of resources, reduction of duplication, "economies of scale" which improve cost containment, the ability to provide specialized services and retention of local control through a well-structured contract.
REPORTS AND RECORDS
County Audit - ACFD is audited on an annual basis by an independent financial auditor. Additionally, the Alameda County Auditor-Controller's Office conducts periodic audits of ACFD’s specific operational and/or fiscal areas (i.e., fixed assets audit, payroll audit, etc.) City Staff has reviewed the most recent ACFD financial audit as part of the contract review.
Fire Department Complaints - All complaints received by the ACFD are forwarded to a Deputy Fire Chief. Each complaint is followed up on and documented by the Deputy Chief handling the complaint. During the term of the existing contract, no formal complaints concerning the City of Emeryville were received. It is Fire Department’s policy that the City Manager would be fully informed about any complaints and subsequent remedies.
ACFD Fire Advisory Commission - The ACFD Fire Advisory Commission meets on a quarterly basis, typically, the third Thursday of February, May, September & November. The City of Emeryville holds a seat on the Commission with an opportunity for an alternate Commissioner as well. The Emeryville City Council appoints the representative to the Commission from among current councilmembers.
INVENTORY
ACFD has been providing the City with complete inventories of each new apparatus purchased throughout the term of the fire services contract.
FACILITIES
Buildings and Real Property- Fire Stations 34 and 35 are owned and maintained by the City of Emeryville. ACFD has worked cooperatively with City staff to establish the annual budget for facility maintenance and capital projects. Day-to-day maintenance is handled by ACFD.
Apparatus and Equipment - Apparatus and equipment within the City is owned by the City of Emeryville. Maintenance of fire apparatus is provided by ACFD mechanics and billed to the City at a rate of $165.00 per hour plus parts. An inventory of each apparatus, with its associated value, is maintained by ACFD and forwarded to the City of Emeryville as described above.
Payment for Services- The existing contract language specifies that the Department, on a quarterly basis, will provide the City an expenditure breakdown and invoice for current services.
Evidence of Insurance- Staff has reviewed the evidence of insurance and self- insurance certificate that reflects the County of Alameda's self-insured liability and workers compensation policy limits.
DISPATCH:
The ACFD’s Alameda County Regional Emergency Communications Center (ACRECC), a nationally accredited and distinguished Center of Excellence, has served as the Alameda County regional fire and emergency services (EMS) dispatch center since 2002. County EMS Agency, the Cities of Alameda, Livermore, Pleasanton, and Fremont, as well as Camp Parks, are also participants in ACRECC. The Alameda County's private ambulance provider, Falck Northern California, LLC, is also dispatched out of ACRECC. Dispatching fire, EMS, and ambulance calls from the same center provides for better coordination and quicker response times to emergency incidents.
City paid $70,000 to City of Oakland for dispatching services in FY 12-13. The chart below summarizes the cost per call for the term of the contracts with ACFD.
Fiscal Year
Cost per call
2013-14
$32.46
2014-15
$33.86
2015-16
$36.69
2016-17
$38.74
2017-18
$39.83
2018-19
$42.07
2019-20
$42.93
2020-21
$44.48
The cost per call for ACRECC is significantly lower than for comparable communication centers, which range from $40 to $60 per call. ACFD is continuously working on exploring opportunities for integrating other fire departments into ACRECC with the goal of ensuring high quality, cost-effective fire dispatch services, state of the art emergency medical dispatch, and excellent customer service