2022EDDIESELL,FIRECHIEF
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SummaryTheadministrationandfirepreventionbureausoftheFireDepartmentareunderstaffed.Thesituationisaresultofseveralfactorsincludingchangingbudgetsandreorganizations.Becauseofunderstaffing,thedepartmentcurrentlyoperatesin‘crisismanagement‘maintainingemergencyresponseservicesbutunabletosufficientlyaddressotherareasofresponsibility.Inordertoreversethecurrentsituation,thedepartmentneedstoaddpersonnel;specificallyaDeputyFireChief,AdministrativeBattalionChief,ManagementAnalyst,andupgradethecurrentOfficeSpecialisttofull-timestatus.RecommendationItisrespectfullyrecommendedthatthedepartmentbegivenapprovaltoworkwithHumanResourcestohireand/orfillthefollowingpositions:DeputyFireChiefAdministrativeBattalionChief0ManagementAnalystOfficeSpecialist,upgradetofull-timeFindim?Overthecourseofthelast15years,theadministrationandfireprevention(FP)bureausofthedepartmenthavehad,atvarioustimes,thefollowingpositions;DeputyChief,DivisionChief,BattalionChief,BattalionChief/FireMarshal,ManagementAnalyst,ExecutiveAnalyst,AdministrativeCaptain,andFirePreventionOfficer.Someofthepositionswereonlybudgetedforafewyearsbeforebeinglostwhileothershavecome,goneandreappearedlater.Untilrecently,theentiredailystaffingoftheadministrationandFPbureausweretwofull-timeemployeesconsistingoftheFireChiefandanAdministrativeSpecialist.InFebruaryafull-timeFPOfficerwashired.Inadditionthereisapart-timeOfficeSpecialistassignedtotheadministrationbureau.Fieldoperationsaremanagedbythreebattalionchiefs(BCs)thatworkatypicalfirefightershiftscheduleof48hourson—dutyfollowedby96hoursoff.Besidestheirdailyshiftdutiesmanagingfirestations,personnel,andemergencyresponsestheseBCsareeachtaskedwithmanagingoneofthedepartment'sthreebureaus;Operations/EMS,FirePrevention,orSupportServicesduringtheir48hourdutyshifts.ThisconfigurationdistributestheworkloadbetweenthethreeBCsbutisnotaneffectivewaytomanageprograms.
First,theBCshiftscheduledoesnotalignwellwithtypicalbusinesshoursandanormalworkweek,especiallywhenthenormalworkweekisaMonday-Thursdayschedule.Thebest-casescenarioisthattheBC'sscheduleplacesthemon-dutyfortwoofthenormalworkdays.However,itispossibleforaBC'sscheduletofallsothattheyworktheir48hourshiftonSaturdayandSundayandarethenoffforthenextfourbusinessdays.ThisrotationresultsintheBC’sschedulenotaligningwithcityordepartmentadministrationstafffortwoweeksinarow(Saturday/SundayandFriday/Saturday).Ineitherexamplethiscreatesdelaysrespondingtoorcontactingcitystaff,otherfiredepartmentpersonnel,outsidevendors,andcustomers.Secondly,theBC'sprimarytaskisthedailymanagementofashiftoffirefightersandrespondingtocallsforservice.TheBCmustmanage;thedailystaffingoftheirshift,handlepersonnel,equipment,andapparatusissues,respondtoandmanageemergencycalls,aswellasinteractwithcustomersinthefield.Thesetasks,especiallyintheareaofemergencyresponse,takeprecedenceovertheirbureauassignments.TheBCmaystarttoworkonaprojectrelatedtotheirbureaubutthenbecalledawayonaresponse.Thisstartingandstoppingdisruptsworkflowandincreasestheamountoftimeittakestocompleteevensimpleprojects.BecauseofthistheBC'sareoftentimesrequiredtoworkontheirofftimetomanagetheirprograms.Thisresultsinincreasedovertimecoststothedepartment.InmosttypicalfireserviceagenciestheFireChiefhasoverallresponsibilitiesforallaspectsofthedepartmentandtheservicesitprovidesbutmanagesthisthroughsubordinatesthatareassignedspecific,manageabledutiesthatworknormalworkdaysandhours.UnderthecurrentstaffingconfigurationtheFireChiefhasresponsibilitiesfortheoverallmissionofthedepartmentbutmustalsodirectlymanageandsupervisealmosteverytaskandassignmentbecauseheistheonlyconsistentlyavailablemanagerduringnormalbusinesshours.Havingasinglemanageravailableisnotabestpracticebecausethereisnoredundancyorbackupfortimeswhenthemanagerisunavailable.WhentheFireChiefisunavailablethenthenextavailablemanageristheshiftBC(Iftheyaren'tonanemergencyresponse)howevertheshiftBConlyhasexpertiseinonebureauofthedepartment'soperationsandmaynotbeabletoeffectivelyrespondtoarequestorchallengerelatedtoanotherbureau.Thisisparticularlyimportantwhentheissueisrelatedtofirepreventionactivities.Thesolutiontothischallengecanbefoundinpreviousbudgetyears.InFY09/10,10/11and11/12thedepartmenthad,aspartofitsadministration,anadditional chiefofficer.ThetitleinFY09/10wasDivisionChiefbutitwaschangedthenextyeartoDeputyChief(DC).Thispositionservesassecondincommandinthedepartment.ItprovidescomplexsupporttotheFireChiefforstrategicplanningandmanagementofthedepartment'sactivities.TheDCisawidelyrecognizedpositioninthefireserviceandmostorganizations,largeandsmall,havesimilarpositions.Recentlythedepartmentcompareditselftoseverallocalfiredepartmentstogaugeitslevelofactivity.Aspreviousidentifiedthedepartmentcurrentlyexperienceshighworkloadcomparedtosimilarcities.Table1belowshowsthatthefiredepartmentrespondstomorecallsforservicethenmanycitieswithsignificantlymorepopulation.ItalsoidentifieswhichofthecomparisondepartmentshaveaDCposition.
Hemet85K285 4918KCorona174K507 10714KEscondido153K507 10215KMurrieta131K345 5510KWestCovina110K165 7010KRialto105K244 5710KRedlands73K374 5611KTable1HemetFireComparisonwithSimilarFireDepartmentsSource) Asyoucanseebothcomparisondepartmentsinthecounty,CoronaandMurrieta,haveaDCpositionintheirrankstructure.TheonlydepartmentinthesurveywithoutaDCpositionisinLosAngelesCountyandrespondstosignificantlylesscalls.CallvolumeisimportantbecausethemorecallsthatthedepartmentrespondstothelesstimetheshiftBCshavetomanageprogramsoutsideofthedailyoperationsofashift.TheDCisasworn,atwillpositionthatservesasthedepartment'ssecondincommand.Theycanbetaskedwithmanaging,supervising,andcoordinatinganyofthedepartment'sbureausanditspersonnel.Typicallytheyareassignedtooverseethedepartment'sfieldoperations,providingdirectsupervisionoftheshiftBCsandthedepartment'sdailyemergencyactivities.TheyareabletoimprovecommunicationsandconsistencybetweenthethreeshiftsoffirefightersbecausetheDCsworkschedulewilloverlapallthreeshifts.Personnel,BCsandfirefighters,willbeabletoconsultwiththeDCforclarificationonissuesandwillbeabletoreceiveimmediatedirectiontomanageproblems.TheDCwilldirect,manage,andguidetheBCsontheirassignedprojectsandthuswillthenbeabletorespondto nqurieswhentheBCsunavaableAlsotheDCwabsorbsomeoftheprogramscurrentlyassignedtotheBCsTheworkloadcanberedistributedwhchWIaowmorecapacityforthngsthatarecurrentlynotbeinghandedeffectivelyTasksthathavebeenonabackburnercanbeassignedtoaspecificndividualwhowillthenhavesufficienttimetoworkonit.TheDCwouldrespondtosignificantemergenciesprovidingahigherlevelofincidentcommandandoversightaswellasimprovingnotificationsandcommunications.CurrentlytheFireChiefreceivesnoticesofallafter-hourssignificantincidents,effectivelyplacinghimon-duty24/7/365.TheadditionoftheDCmeansthisresponsibilitycanbesplitbetweentwoindividualsreducingafter-hournotifications.InassumingtheresponsibilitiesforabureautheDCabsorbssomeoftheFireChief'sworkload.RatherthenfocusingonthedirectmanagementofthatbureautheFireChiefcanshifthiseffortstoanotherareaorbureau,likestrategicplanning,trainingorfireprevention.ThisalsofreestheChief'sscheduleforincreasedinteractionwiththecommunity,citystaff,anddepartmentpersonnel.TheadditionoftheDCwillalsomeanthattherewillbeanothermanageravailableduringthenormalworkweektomanageproblemsorinquiries.AsthesecondincommandtheDCbecomesaresourceforothercitydepartments.Theycanattendmeetingsandinteractwithcitystafftoresolveproblemsandcompleteprojects.IntheChief'sabsencetheDCwillactfortheChiefandbecomethepointofcontactfortheCityManagerandCouncilasneeded.Theyarealsoavitalcomponentofasuccessionplan.TheadditionoftheDCpositionshowsaclear,logicalprogressionforpromotionwithinthedepartment.TheChiefcancoach,guideandmentortheDCtoassumethepositionofFireChiefwhiletheDCisprovidingthesamefortheshiftBCs.TheDCwillbelearningtheskillsneededtobeasuccessfulfirechiefwhileshowingtheBCstheskillsneededtobeasuccessfulDC.And,becausetheworkloadwillbemoreevenlydistributed,therewillbetimeforsuccessionplanningandimplementation.AnotherpositionthatthedepartmenthashadandlostwasaBCassignedtoworkanormalworkschedule.ThisAdministrativeBCspentaportionoftheirtimemanagingthefirepreventionactivitiesofthedepartment.Theyprovidedsupervisionovertheinspectionprocess,servedasthedailypointofcontactforfirepreventionissues,provideddirectiontoindividualsorbusinessrelatedtocorrectingviolations,workedcloselywithcitystaffonnewconstructionprojects,andwastaskedwithensuringthatthedepartmentwasmeetingtheappropriate mandatesnspectionmandatesandthefirepreventionworkloadhavencreasedsgnificantlysincethspositionwaselmnatednadditiontotherfirepreventionduties,theBCprovidedsupporttotheFireChief,asneeded,forspecialprojectsandcoudrespondtoemergenciestoaugmentthencidentcommander,serveasasafetyofficertomprovefirefightersafetyorrespondtosmultaneouscasAnAdministrativeBCcouldbetaskedwithmanagingfirepreventionactivitiesandoverseeingthedepartment'strainingprograms.Trainingisavitalfunctiontothedepartment'smission.Itensuresthatpersonnelcaneffectivelycompletethemultitudeoftasksrequiredofthem.Trainingalsoimprovessafetybyingrainingthepropertechniquesneededtocompletetasks,whichreducesinjuriesandlostworkhours.Inaddition,adesignatedtrainingofficercanensurethatthetrainingprovidedtothedepartment'spersonnelmeetsmandatedrequirementsandthattrainingrecordsarecurrentandcompleteandthateachindividualhastherequiredamountoftraininghours.CurrentlytheFireChiefmustplanandmanageutilizinglimitedresourcesandassistance.Thereisadministrativesupportavailablebutnohigherlevelofsupportwithinthedepartmenttoassistwithplanningandtodevelopreports.ThislimitstheChief'sabilitytorespondquicklytochangesandinquiries.IftheChiefisrequiredtodevelopacomprehensivereporthemustdomuchoftheresearchhimself,interpretandanalyzethedata,andthendraftthedocument.TheChief'stimeistoovaluabletoutilizeforpreliminaryresearch,initialanalysis,anddocumentcreation.Staffshouldprovidehimwithcompletedreportsthathecanthentakeactionon.AManagementAnalystwillfillthisgapintheadministrationstaffing.Theanalystcanprovidehigher-levelsupporttotheChiefandstaff.Theywillbeabletoprovidetheresearchandinitialdataanalysistoidentifyproblemsortrendsandcreateinitialorcompletedreports.Again,thissupportfreesuptimesochiefofficerscanconcentrateonmorepressingissuesandprojects.Manydepartmentswithinthecityhavethesameorasimilarposition.Finally,thedepartmenthasjusthiredandtrainedaFPOfficer.ThispositionwaslostintheFY14/15budget.AsthenewFPOfficerbeginstoconductinspectionsthedepartmentwillbeabletocompileandupdateitspreventiondatabase.Inaddition,thedepartmentwillbecomeawareofbuildingsandoccupanciesthathaveslippedthroughthecracksandthathavenotbeeninspectedontheappropriatetimetablesasrequired.TheFPOfficerwillalsogenerateconsiderablepapenNorkintheformofinspectionreports,violationnotices,andcorrespondence relatedtotheirduties.InorderfortheFPOfficeranddepartmenttomanagethisnewinfluxofrecordkeepingadministrativesupportisrequired.Tomanagetheseadditiondutiesthecurrentpart-timeOfficeSpecialistshouldbeupgradedtofull-time.TheycanmanagetherecordkeepingaswellasserveasapointofcontactfortheFPOfficerwhowillbespendingalargeportionoftheirtimeinthefield.TheSpecialistcananswerphones,respondtobasicinquiries,andassistwithschedulingofinspectionsandmeetings.TheSpecialistcanalsoprovidethesameadministrativesupporttotheotherchiefofficers,servingdualduties.ConclusionTheadministrationandfirepreventionbureausofthefiredepartmentareunderstaffed.Whilethedepartmenthasbeenabletomaintainitsemergencyresponsecapabilitiesandprovideforsomefirepreventionactivitiestherearemanytasksthatarenotbeingcompletedornotbeingcompletedefficiently.Thedepartmentneedstoincreaseitsstaffinginordertofulfillitsmission.ADeputyFireChief,anAdministrativeBattalionChief,aManagementAnalyst,andupgradingthecurrentpart-timeOfficeSpecialisttofull-timeshouldbeimplementedwithinthedepartmentassoonaspossible.