5/5/2025
TO: PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND FROM: Robert Sapien, Jr.
STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: Fire Department Operations Annual DATE: April 30, 2025 Report
Approved Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the annual report on Fire Department call volumes and emergency response time performance metrics.
BACKGROUND
As specified in the Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee (Committee) Work Plan, the Fire Department (Department) is to provide a consolidated annual report on emergency response time performance, progress on the implementation of response time improvement strategies detailed in the Fire Department Response Time Work Plan, as well as an overview of the annual call volume activity. The report also includes recommendations for potential opportunities to triage service calls to optimize life-saving interventions and reduce the impact of fires.
The Committee accepted the Department’s annual operations report on April 18, 20241.
This iteration of the report offers a comprehensive assessment of the Department’s operational performance, highlights emerging trends, and outlines enhancements to critical processes in support of the Department’s mission to protect life, property, and the environment.
The Department is a high-volume, all-hazards fire department providing fire suppression and rescue services, Advanced Life Support (ALS), and Basic Life Support (BLS) services, as well as specialized operations resources, including Urban Search and Rescue (US&R), Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF), and a Hazardous Incident Team (HIT). The Department deploys resources from 34 fire stations, with minimum daily staffing levels of 190 personnel operating on 34 Engine companies, nine Truck 1 https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12849151&GUID=EC3D32BD-0061-4DDC-A44E-5EDFF9C39139 PSFSS AGENDA: 5/15/25
ITEM: (d)1.
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
April 30, 2025
Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
companies, three Rescue Medic units, and six on-duty command officers (Battalion Chiefs). The Department’s frontline personnel protects 208 square miles, including 181 square miles within City of San José (City) limits and approximately 27 square miles of unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County by contract.
The Department’s emergency incident call volume has increased by approximately
39.6% in the past ten years, from 78,957 calls in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013-2014 to 110,254 calls in FY 2023-2024. Rising call volume has challenged the Department’s ability to meet response time performance standards and to maintain balanced emergency response coverage throughout the City. To address these challenges, the Department has pursued several strategies, as reported to the Committee in the Fire Department Emergency Response Times Performance Semi-Annual Report2.
On June 7, 2016, the City Council received the City of San José – Fire Department Organization Review3 , which included Standards of Response Coverage (SOC) analysis. The following was included in the report’s findings:
We find the City’s deployment system does not provide City Counciladopted and best-practice desired response times, especially outside of the urban core as fire station spacing increases in the suburban areas.
Delivering response times to all neighborhoods at the adopted City Goal will require additional resources.
Consistent with the above conclusion, the City Council has been proactive and taken budget actions to restore some response resources lost following the 2008 recession.
The first action taken was advancing the Disaster Preparedness, Public Safety, and Infrastructure Bond measure to the November 6, 2018, ballot. Voters passed the $650,000,000 general obligation bond measure (Measure T) which included “…construction of Fire Station 37 and the upgrade and/or rebuild of additional fire stations to improve emergency response times based on the Fire Chief’s assessment of projects that are critically needed to improve emergency response…” Additionally, at the June 18, 2019, City Council meeting, the Department’s Measure T – New Fire Station Placement Prioritization4 recommendations were accepted by the City Council, initiating the construction of three new fire stations and the replacement of two existing fire stations. Thus far, Measure T-completed fire station projects include Fire Station 37 at 2191 Lincoln Avenue, and the landside bay addition at Fire Station 20 constructed in cooperation with Mineta San José International Airport and the Federal Aviation Administration.
2 https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=7158775&GUID=D188428F-8487-4BFA-9D8D-A39F7B276F11 3 https://sanjose.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=&event_id=2139&meta_id=576986 4 https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=7296426&GUID=8097B35E-F3AA-441B-A951-9B6135862F50
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
April 30, 2025
Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
The additional fire stations provided by Measure T and continued advancement of response time performance improvement strategies have, at least temporarily, resulted in improved response time performance and resource availability. However, continued increases in emergency call volume continue to challenge Department resources in meeting response time targets.
ANALYSIS
Fire Department Emergency Call Volume
In FY 2019-2020, the Department’s call volume was 91,595 compared to 110,254 in FY 2023-2024, resulting in an increase of approximately 20% in demand for emergency response. As depicted in Chart 1 below, the City’s population decreased by 8% in that same 5-year period from 1,049,187 in FY 2019-2020 to 969,491 in FY 2023-2024.
Population Impacts
Prior to 2019, there was a clear correlation between rising population and emergency call volume. However, since 2021, call volume has risen significantly despite a drop in population size.
Chart 1: 5-Year Call Volume versus City Population
91,595 94,784
103,145
109,143 110,254 1,049,187
1,013,240
976,482
959,256
969,491
900,000
920,000
940,000
960,000
980,000
1,000,000
1,020,000
1,040,000
1,060,000
0 20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
2019 - 2020 2020 - 2021 2021 - 2022 2022 - 2023 2023 - 2024 Population Call Volume Call Volume Population
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
Generally, call volume is at its highest in the core of the City and lowest at its perimeter.
As indicated below in Chart 2, Battalion 1, which is centrally located in San José, had 27,102 incidents in FY 2023-2024. At peak periods, resources from other battalions are drawn into the core of the City as Battalion 1 resources are drawn down.
Chart 2: FY 2023-2024 Call Volume by Battalion5
Fire stations are located throughout San José to provide emergency response coverage; however, population densities and service demands can vary for each station’s response area. This is shown in Chart 3 on the following page with a notation on fire stations experiencing the highest call volume in each Battalion’s sphere of influence. It is important to note that call volume numbers reflect single emergency incidents and not the total number of resources deployed.
A single incident may require a single resource response such as a Rescue Medic or Engine Company or can have several resource responses. As such, the incident response numbers provided in this report only partially represent the workloads for each fire station. Battalion 1 fire stations, which includes Fire Station 26, experience the highest call volume annually. Using the proceeds from Measure T, the Department fully operationalized Fire Station 37 to bolster fire protection coverage and improve response time performance within West San José. Additionally, Measure T funding will enable the 5 Miscellaneous category captures calls identified within the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system for Mutual and Auto Aid calls received by the City of San José not directly associated with a particular Battalion. 27,102
18,775 18,173
14,671
13,043
11,808
6,682
0 5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
Battalion 1 Battalion 10 Battalion 2 Battalion 13 Battalion 5 Battalion 35 Miscellaneous Call Volume
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
April 30, 2025
Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
future construction and positioning of Fire Stations 32 and 36 which is intended to strengthen central response capabilities and improve call volume distribution.
Through the FY 2023-2024 Adopted Budget, City Council approved the staffing augmentation to add a 6th Battalion, enabling the Department to realign the supervision of existing battalions to more equitable and manageable levels. This model enhanced the reliability of the Department’s operations by reducing travel distances and response times for command staff in the eastern and central areas of San José that have been historically harder to serve due to minimal resources, thus improving the quality of life, health, and safety to residents in these areas, as well as providing resources to assist with community outreach and Department functions, such as fire inspections and public education.
Chart 3: FY 2023-2024 Call Volume by Fire Station Response Area and Battalion6 High call volume centralized in the core of San José negatively impacts the Department’s response time performance because of reduced first-due resource availability, resulting in extended travel time for resources traveling from more distant fire stations.
6 Fire Station 33, closed by budget action in FY 2010-2011 remains out of service – however, the response area remains in the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. Closest appropriate resources are dispatched to incidents in Fire Station 33’s response area.
6,210
5,650
3,818
4,256
3,976 4,012
6,682
0 2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
1 3 7 8 26 30 2 16 19 21 31 5 20 23 25 29 34 4 6 10 14 15 37 12 13 17 22 28 9 33 11 18 24 27 35Misc.
Battalion 1 Battalion 2 Battalion 5 Battalion 10 Battalion 13 Battalion 35
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April 30, 2025
Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
As shown in Figure 1, on the following page, the heatmap reflects call volume intensity ranging from lowest (blue) to highest (red). Current fire station response area call volumes result in reduced resource availability and compromise response time performance. Figure 2 reflects late response (travel times greater than 4 minutes) intensity ranging from the lowest (green) to the highest number of late responses (orange) depicting how resource drawdowns impact response time performance.
Figure 1: Call Volume Heat Map FY 2023-2024
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
April 30, 2025
Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
Figure 2: Late Response Heat Map FY 2023-2024
Chart 4 depicted below provides the call type distribution of the 110,254 incidents in FY 2023-2024. Each call type was within 1% to 2% from the prior year’s distribution. The Department experienced no significant marked increase in medical call volume percentage, and there was no clearly discernable change in call type distribution.
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
April 30, 2025
Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
Chart 4: Call Type Distribution
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Call Volume
As depicted in Chart 5 below, EMS call volume did not have a discernable change between FY 2019-2020 to FY 2020-2021; however, there was an increase of 12% in FY 2021-2022 from the previous year and an increase of 6.7% in FY 2022-2023, with similar EMS call volume experienced in FY 2023-2024. Total responses for all other call types increased by more than 19%, rising from 35,141 calls in FY 2019–2020 to 41,845 calls in FY 2023–2024 over the five-year period.
62%
11%
10%
6%
6%
4% 1%
Medical Only
Other SJFD calls (unclassified)
Good Intent Or Service
Rescue, Haz-Mat, USAR &
Non-Fire hazards
No incident, wrong location,
cancelled en-route
Fires
False Alarm / False Call
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
Chart 5: 5-Year EMS Call Volume and All Other Call Types Call volumes are increasing county-wide; however, the activity observed in the City’s EMS call volume has outpaced Santa Clara County’s Emergency Medical Services (County EMS) ambulance responses on a county-wide scale. As shown in Chart 6 below, County EMS 9-1-1 ambulance responses increased by 11.43%, rising from 125,394 calls in FY 2019-2020 to 139,726 calls in FY 2023-2024. During the same period, total responses for the City grew by 20.4%, from 91,595 to 110,254 calls, while City EMS call volume rose by 21.2%, from 56,454 to 68,410 calls. 56,454 57,125
63,997
68,412 68,410
35,141 37,659 39,148 40,731 41,845
-
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
2019 - 2020 2020 - 2021 2021 - 2022 2022 - 2023 2023 - 2024 Call Volume Medical Emergencies All Other Call Types
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
Chart 6: 5-Year City Call Volume and County-wide Ambulance Call Volume Aging Population
According to the California State Plan on Aging issued in 20217, the number of Santa Clara County residents above the age of 65 years will increase by 99.3%, from 277,700 in 2010 to 553,409 in 2030, and residents aged 85 years and older are estimated to increase by 84.6%, from 28,039 in 2010 to 51,772 in 2030. The California State Plan on Aging made the following statement regarding health care demands of people aged 85 and over:
The current size of the population age 85 and over and the projected increase in this age group is notable. Those who are 85 and older have a significantly higher rate of severe chronic health conditions and functional limitations that result in the need for more health and supportive services.
The rapid growth of this age group has many implications for individuals, families, communities, and government.
7 https://aging.ca.gov/download.ashx?lE0rcNUV0zbUy1iwYmWKng%3d%3d 91,595 94,784
103,145
109,143 110,255
125,394 126,394
133,354 131,532
139,726
56,454 57,125
63,997 68,412 68,410
0 20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
2019 - 2020 2020 - 2021 2021 - 2022 2022 - 2023 2023 - 2024 CALL VOLUME Fiscal Year
SJFD Call Volume County Ambulance EMSResponse SJFD EMS Call Volume
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
In FY 2023-2024, the available patient age data from the Department’s Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) indicated that 58% of patients were age 60 years and over, and 70% of patients were age 50 years and over. Chart 7 below provides a distribution of emergency medical responses across various patient age groups for FY 2023-2024.
Chart 7: EMS Patient Age Distribution
Local Mutual Aid
Call volume is increasing throughout the county and particularly in areas south of San José, including Morgan Hill and Gilroy. San José has historically provided mutual aid support within the county and beyond. Locally, this is achieved through automatic aid and mutual aid agreements. Automatic aid is established to assign the closest station to areas regardless of jurisdictional boundaries, within specified limits. Automatic aid is designed to be reciprocal and has minimal, or no impact, on participating agency's call volume. Comparatively, in-county mutual aid is provided on an as-needed basis. As call volume increases and response time performance continues to be challenged, mutual aid becomes increasingly challenging to support. In past years, as resources were released to provide mutual aid support for other agencies, other resources would be moved up to provide coverage to the vacated areas. Currently, as resource availability decreases due to higher call volume, it is increasingly challenging to provide backfill resources and maintain response time performance levels while providing mutual aid 272
856
1,568
2,750
3,861 3,959
5,305
6,456
6,959 6,780
3,062
2,461
0 1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
< 1 1-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-110 Unknown EMS Responses Age Group
PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE
April 30, 2025
Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
support. The Department will continue to monitor these types of impacts and utilize mutual aid during significant incidents throughout San José.
Mutual Aid related to the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires
The Department participates in the California Fire Service and Rescue Emergency Mutual Aid System. It supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Urban Search and Rescue Response System with personnel assigned to California Task Force 3 – Urban Search and Rescue.
On January 8, 2025, in response to resource requests coordinated through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the Department deployed resources to the Eaton Fire, including Engine 14 and a Battalion Chief as part of Santa Clara County Strike Team 2302A, and Engine 302, Engine 13, and two Battalion Chiefs as part of Santa Clara County Task Force 2323. On January 10, 2025, another nine Department personnel were deployed to the Eaton Fire with California Task Force 3.
Additional personnel holding specific California Incident Command Certification System credentials were deployed to fill various Incident Command System roles. A total of 31 Department personnel were deployed to support the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire incidents. Strike Team 2302A returned safely to San José on January 16, 2025, followed by Task Force 2323 on January 17, 2025. The Department will typically provide relief rotations after 14 days of deployment.
Public Education and Safety
The Department significantly enhanced its public education and engagement efforts with the production of several high-quality public education videos, including the “Wildfire Wednesday” mini-series, explaining what happens when individuals call 9-1-1, the safety benefits of induction cooktops, and seasonal content on Christmas trees and holiday cooking. Many of these videos were produced in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese, to ensure a more inclusive outreach to San José’s rich and diverse community. Another video series titled “Path to Service” was launched, showcasing the diverse and compelling stories of personnel and their journeys to joining the Department with the goal of encouraging others to follow in their footsteps. This series was honored with an EPIC Award from the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO), recognizing it as the top in-house video series produced on a budget under $5,000. The Department relaunched its annual fireworks safety campaign with refreshed messaging tailored for the Fourth of July, New Year’s, and Lunar New Year holidays. These efforts contributed to the absence of reported structure fires around the Fourth of July. The Department partnered with the American Red Cross to participate in a Sound the Alarm smoke alarm installation event, hosted a series of fire safety workshops for the community, and launched an opioid safety and awareness campaign.
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
Additionally, the Department celebrated two major infrastructure milestones. On October 19, 2023, the Department held a groundbreaking ceremony for the relocation of Fire Station 8. On March 28, 2024, the Department commemorated the opening of its new Fire Training Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Fire Training Center event and its accompanying launch video earned a CAPIO Certificate of Excellence.
Fire Department Emergency Response Times and Metrics - City and County EMS Response Times
Department response times are measured against two performance measures: the City’s adopted performance measures and the performance measures in the Santa Clara County (County) Emergency Medical Services agreement.
City of San José: In order to effectively respond to emergency calls for service (both fires and medical services), the City revised its response time performance standard in 2000 to an arrival time within eight minutes, 80 percent of the time for Priority 1 incidents; and an arrival time within 13 minutes, 80 percent of the time for Priority 2 incidents. Priority 1 incidents are emergency incidents that are determined to require immediate response with response vehicles using lights and sirens. Priority 2 incidents are emergency incidents that are determined to require immediate response without the use of lights and sirens.
Under the City Standard, the time clock begins upon receipt of the 9-1-1 call and stops upon arrival at the incident address.
Santa Clara County EMS Contract Provision: The 9-1-1 Emergency Medical Services Provider Agreement between the City and the County establishes response time requirements for two emergency vehicle response modes: with red lights and sirens or without red lights and sirens. All 9-1-1 calls are triaged by Public Safety Radio Dispatchers utilizing the MPDS. Resulting determinates (Omega, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo) inform field resources of the appropriate response mode. Lights and sirens responses require arrival on scene within eight minutes, 90 percent of the time, in all EMS calls in urban areas (commonly referred to as the County EMS Code 3 Standard).
Lower-level EMS incidents require arrival on scene within 13 minutes, 90 percent of the time, in urban areas.
Under the County EMS response time standard, the time clock begins upon dispatch of response resources and stops upon arrival at the incident address.
The agreement with the County includes response time performance “exceptions” for responses outside of the County’s defined Exclusive Operating Area and designated “hard to serve areas.” The County may also waive response time performance requirements when the response network is under unusual pressure, such as during periods of time when greater alarms are occurring or when the Department is providing mutual aid to other jurisdictions. During such exception periods, Department response
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
times not meeting the County EMS Code 3 Standard are excluded from the County EMS Code 3 response time calculations, resulting in a readjusted compliance rate.
Response Time (City and County EMS)
Chart 9 below represents the Department’s monthly response time performance for FY 2023-2024:
Chart 9: Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Response Time Performance8 During FY 2023-2024, the Department response times averaged:
City Standard: 64 percent, or 16 basis points below the City Standard of 8 minutes, 80 percent of the time for Priority 1 calls.
County Standard: 87 percent, or three basis points below the County EMS Code 3 Standard of 8 minutes, 90 percent of the time.
The Department response time averages for FY 2022-2023 and FY 2023-2024 were significantly lower compared to FYs 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, in which Department response time averages were high due to a peak in COVID-19 hospitalizations that negatively impacted ambulance response times starting in January 2021 through May 2022. During this time, the average response times for this 2-year period were:
8 Compliance standard reflects performance reported to County EMS adjusted for allowable exemptions 67% 64% 67% 64% 65% 63% 65% 63% 64% 64% 64% 61%
88% 88% 87% 87% 87% 86% 87% 88% 87% 86% 86% 86%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
City Priority 1 Compliance (80% Standard)
County EMS Code 3 Compliance (90% Standard)
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April 30, 2025
Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
City Standard: 71.67 percent, or 8.33 basis points below the City Standard of 8 minutes, 80 percent of the time for Priority 1 calls.
County Standard: 91.02 percent, or 1.02 basis points above the County EMS Code 3 Standard of 8 minutes, 90 percent of the time.9
Recently, on March 20, 20256, the Department presented its findings on EMS activity and delivery to the Committee regarding impacts to response time and operations. In this report, the Department identified emergent community health issues, staffing trends related to its EMS delivery, including continued ambulance unavailability resulting in delayed transport of critical patients, extended on-scene times for first responder agencies, and extended response times to subsequent emergencies. To address the ambulance unavailability, the Department continued an elevated use of Rescue Medic transports and paramedic escorts. A continued correlation occurred with increased late responses to EMS incidents as the units are committed during transport, making them unavailable to respond to subsequent emergencies. Additionally, rescue medic transports often occur when there are no other ambulances available, straining fire agency resource availability throughout the County. The current EMS ambulance model does not result in effective operational coordination between Rural/Metro managers and the Department. County EMSA holds regulatory responsibilities and operational control of EMS. This means that the first responder agencies and the ambulance provider have little opportunity to coordinate effective resource deployment. This arrangement is particularly limiting as the ambulance provider struggles to deploy sufficient ALS ambulances.
Response Time Segments
The Department’s response times are broken down into three segments: alarm processing time, turnout time, and travel time. The Priority 1 standard is 8 minutes, 80% of the time. The 8-minute target includes 2 minutes for alarm processing, 2 minutes for turnout, and 4 minutes for travel time. The Department meets alarm processing and turnout time standards more than 80% of the time; however, the 4-minute travel time target is met less than 50% of the time.
Alarm processing begins when a 9-1-1 call is received by the Fire Communications Center (FCC) and assigned to a call taker. Most calls are transferred to the FCC from Public Safety Answering Points including the San José Police Department Communications Center, Santa Clara County Communications, California Highway Patrol, and others.
9 https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13937442&GUID=A52A60F5-E878-4D99-924D-E9C204825878
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
In FY 2019-2020, the Department achieved four improvements that have had a positive impact on alarm processing time including an improved Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system to CAD link between the City and County Communications Centers, diversion of non-emergency calls from the FCC to San José 3-1-1, “off-hook” answering technology, and a new fire station alerting system.
The CAD-to-CAD link improvement results in a reduction of tens of thousands of telephone calls between the Centers annually while increasing dispatcher availability.
Similarly, the diversion of non-emergency calls to San José 3-1-1 also increases 9-1-1 dispatcher availability. Off-hook answering automatically opens the line between the caller and the available 9-1-1 dispatcher, eliminating ring time and dispatcher reaction time.
The fire station alerting system utilizes a computerized voice and can reduce alarm processing time by simultaneously dispatching calls. Prior to this improvement implementation, dispatches had to occur in sequence to wait for dispatcher and radio channel availability.
In FY 2021-2022, the Department implemented use of the RapidDeploy RadiusPlus platform provided by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to integrate 9-1-1 caller cellular location information and external data sources. Text-to-9- 1-1 service was also transitioned to the RapidDeploy platform in accordance with a California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services contract award. These efforts improve efficiency during alarm processing by combining data previously accessed via disparate systems into a single platform.
Turnout time is measured from the point that a unit is notified of an incident to the time the unit-initiated response (travel). Turnout time entails the following: personnel stopping current activities, walking to the emergency vehicle, donning appropriate personal protective equipment based upon call type, mounting apparatus, and securing seat belts. Response time performance data is shared with companies during each 48- hour work tour, and shift-specific turnout time performance is shared twice per month with field supervisors.
As previously noted, travel time is the Department’s primary challenge to on-time response performance. Distance between fire stations, unit out-of-service time, traffic congestion, and high call volume each play a role in challenging travel time performance. As an ongoing effort to close the distance between fire stations and to increase resourcing, the City is continuing to advance new fire station building projects enabled by Measure T. In March 2022, the newly relocated Fire Station 20 expanded the Fire Department’s coverage from the San José Mineta Airport Fire Station 20 by deploying an advanced life support unit to better serve the surrounding residential and business community. Additionally, in May 2022, the Department completed construction and fully operationalized Fire Station 37 to fortify fire protection coverage and improve response time performance. The Department has worked to minimize unit out-of-service
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
time by utilizing overtime to conduct training and other administrative details during scheduled off-duty time and/or to backfill resources that are out of service for training.
Traffic congestion challenges were improved in 2018 with the implementation of Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP). The implementation of EVP resulted in 948 intersection traffic signal lights pre-empting to green when emergency vehicles are passing through. The result has been improved response time performance and safer roadways for responders and civilians.
Emergency Incident Volume
In FY 2023-2024, the Department responded to 115,591 incidents, which is a 5.9% increase in call volume from the reported 109,136 incidents in FY 2022-2023. Over the last five years, the Department experienced a 26% increase from the 91,595 incidents reported in FY 2019-2020, as indicated in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Annual Incident Volume
2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024
Total Incidents 91,595 94,784 103,145 109,136 115,591
Increased call volume results in more instances where the first due response resource is unavailable to respond. Second- and third-due response resources require additional travel time to arrive on scene, and thus, response times are longer. Peak call volume periods and large-scale incidents requiring multiple unit response stretch the Department’s resource network thinly and result in reduced response time performance.
Figure 3, depicted below, indicates responses on a Heat Map where travel time was greater than four minutes. Red areas indicate the greatest number of late responses, and the green areas indicate the lowest number of late responses. Although fire stations are closer together at the core of the City, the high number of incidents results in an increased number of late responses as previously explained. This data gathered has aided in the placement and prioritization of new fire stations.
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Figure 3: Travel Time Performance (Greater than 4 Minutes) Leveraging funding from the Measure T bond will enable the construction of the new Fire Stations 32 and 36, as well as the relocation of Fire Stations 8 and 23. Fire Station 32 will be built in East San Jose, near McLaughlin Avenue and Story Road, while Fire Station 36 will be built near McLaughlin Avenue and Capitol Expressway. The relocation site for Fire Station 8 will be near East Santa Clara Street and North 13th Street, while the site for Fire Station 23 is currently under evaluation. Both relocated fire stations are anticipated to improve the Department’s emergency response performance. Measure T also provided funding for the improvement of the 9-1-1 Call Center Upgrade that houses the Police and Fire emergency communications, including the expansion to incorporate the Office of Emergency Management. Improvements to the physical space at the 9-1-1 Call Center are expected to result in expanded capacity and improved integration of modern technologies to meet volume demands and support emerging 9-1-1 features.
The Department has taken steps to moderate call volume through refinements in 9-1-1 call taker protocols and through targeted mitigation of high call volume locations where Department resources are not the ideal or a needed resource. An effective 9-1-1 call taker protocol includes a division of “person down” calls, distinguishing between a law enforcement-only response or a law enforcement and fire response to provide emergency medical services care. This action eliminated at least a thousand
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
unnecessary Department responses per year. Mitigating targeted high call volume addresses, such as the Santa Clara County Main Jail Complex has involved collaboration with facilities to provide education, identify better options, and improve workflows to eliminate unnecessary and/or accidental triggering of a 9-1-1 system response. The Department will continue to pursue these opportunities as they arise.
Status of the Response Time Work Plan
The Department continues to advance multiple response time improvement strategies included in the Response Time Work Plan. Table 2 provides all the action items still “in process” and Table 3 provides all the action items that have been completed for the Response Time Work Plan.
Table 2: Response Time Work Plan (In Process)
# Project Comments
2 Data Collection
Status: In Process
Timeline: Ongoing
Segment: Overall
This effort seeks to increase the storage
and scope of electronic data collection to
enhance analytical capabilities to
improve response times. Data informing
on call processing, turnout time, and
travel time performance is in production.
Additional quantitative and qualitative
data is being identified for incorporation
into the data warehouse and business
intelligence tool.
3 Business Intelligence Tool
Status: In Process
Timeline: Ongoing
Segment: Overall
These tools provide reports and user
interfaces (“dashboards”) that direct
organizational focus on performance
driven by actionable data. These tools
were implemented in December 2018.
The Department is currently benefitting
from generated initial products and
continues to add and enhance reports.
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Subject: Fire Department Operations Annual Report
# Project Comments
8 Fire Communications Staffing
Status: In Process
Timeline: July 2025
Segment: Call Processing Time
At the end of FY 2023-2024, there were
five vacancies within the non-supervisory
dispatcher classifications in Fire
Communications and seven across all
classifications. This reflects considerable
progress from the end of FY 2022-2023
when there were 11 vacancies within the
non-supervisory dispatcher
classifications in Fire Communications
and 14 across all classifications. Two
approved temporary overstrength Public
Safety Radio Dispatcher (PSRD)
positions contributed to this improvement
by allowing additional conditional job
offers to be made, thus offsetting the loss
of candidates who do not successfully
complete all pre-hire requirements. The
temporary overstrength positions also
allow the hiring process to proceed so
that candidates are available to fill
permanent PSRD positions that become
vacant during the hiring process. In
December 2023, the Department hired its
largest dispatcher academy since 1990,
with eight PSRDs being hired
simultaneously. Recruitment efforts and
training academies are ongoing.
The 2019-2020 Adopted Operating
Budget added one-time funding to
conduct a staffing study. Following
review by the Fire Department and City
Manager’s Office, the resulting final
report was distributed in April 2023. The
Department has prioritized the most
critical needs identified in the report and
worked with the Human Resources
Department to establish the Public Safety
Communication Specialist (PSCS)
classification in support of adding
dedicated call-taking capacity. Allocation
of positions within the classification will
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be subject to the budget process. The
Department has submitted budget
proposals requesting PSCS full-time
equivalents (FTEs) during the proposal
process for Fiscal Years 2023-2024,
2024-2025, and 2025-2026.
An Analyst position was also added to
the 2019-2020 Operating Budget. The
Analyst has added valuable capacity for
recruitment activities and has developed
a Fire Communications Recruitment Plan
which fulfills recommendation #5 in Office
of the City Auditor Report 19-01. The
plan will guide future recruitment efforts
and will be a living document which will
be updated as needed going forward.
9 Response Area Mapping/ESZ Refinement
Status: In Process
Timeline: Ongoing
Segment: Call Processing Time
Ongoing refinement of Emergency
Service Zone (ESZ) assignments to
ensure appropriate resources
(station/apparatus) are dispatched.
Refinements to align ESZ coverage with
jurisdictional boundaries have occurred.
Preparation for the relocation of Fire
Station 8 is underway. Preparation for the
addition of Fire Stations 32 and 36 and
the relocation of Fire Station 23 will occur
as those projects draw near.
10 Base Map Update
Status: In Process
Timeline: Ongoing
Segment: Call Processing Time
Provide periodic updates to base map
data for integration (“map roll”) into CAD.
The Department is evaluating
opportunities for a County-wide base
map, which could support multiple
strategies. Added County-wide
emergency evacuation map in
collaboration with neighboring agencies.
14 CAD-to-CAD Dispatch Link(s)
Status: In Process
Timeline: TBD
Segment: Call Processing and Travel Time
Connect the Fire Department CAD
system with other County agencies to
share unit and event information. This
includes redesigning the CAD-to-CAD
interface with Santa Clara County
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Communications to include unit data.
Unit data is not exchanged via the
current interface. Funding for a
redesigned interface to coincide with
Santa Clara County Communications’
transition to the Hexagon CAD system
was approved in the 2021-2022 Annual
Report, and coordination with Santa
Clara County and Hexagon continues.
Work on that interface is in progress, and
the anticipated timeline for
implementation is Spring 2025; a timeline
for efforts with other agencies remains to
be determined. The Department will
continue to monitor the status of the
Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability
Authority’s Silicon Valley Interoperability
Project Data Exchange (SVRIA-DX) and
is tracking progress of the Cal OES Data
Information Sharing project.
15 Border Drops
Status: On Hold
Timeline: TBD
Segment: Call Process and Travel Time
Enhance auto-aid agreements to create
borderless response areas. This project
is dependent on CAD-to-CAD links and
agency agreements and may require
county-wide Geographic Information
System (GIS) coordination.
17 Resource Move-Ups
Status: In Process
Timeline: Ongoing
Segment: Travel Time
Resource move-ups continue as a
manual process at Fire Communications
and by request from Battalion Chiefs. As
the Department moves toward “closest
unit” dispatch, automated resource
deployment software solutions will be
evaluated.
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18 Closest Unit Dispatch
Status: In Progress
Timeline: Spring 2026
Segment: Travel Time
This effort would dispatch resources
based upon apparatus proximity to the
incident rather than to the station
location. The Department completed the
installation of CradlePoint network
routers on apparatus to support cellular
network redundancy leveraging FirstNet
and Verizon to connect with the Hexagon
CAD system. The Department is
currently working with Hexagon on finetuning the accuracy of GPS location that can support the “closest” location.
19 Navigation Technology
Status: In Process
Timeline: Ongoing
Segment: Call Processing and Travel Time
The Department continues to refine
routing effectiveness on new CAD and
mobile data computer (MDC) systems.
iPads and updated hard-copy maps
continue to provide interim improved
routing capabilities. An updated map was
deployed on MDCs in February 2022
along with an upgrade of the Hexagon
Mobile for Public Safety Software. An
updated map is planned for Spring 2024
to be deployed on MDCs.
21 Deployment Refinements
Status: In Process
Timeline: Ongoing
Segment: Travel Time
The Department continues to pursue
opportunities to address service gap
areas identified through the
Organizational Review process. This
includes real-time move-ups, backfill for
training, augmented staffing levels for
high fire danger periods, mutual aid, and
special events. In the second half of FY
2021-2022, Engine 37 was deployed out
of the newly constructed Fire Station 37,
and Rescue Medic 20 was deployed out
of the newly constructed Fire Station 20.
Preparation for the relocation of Fire
Station 8 is underway. Preparation for the
addition of Fire Stations 32 and 36 and
the relocation of Fire Station 23 will occur
as those projects draw near.
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Expand Omega Protocol
Status: In Process
Timeline: TBD
Segment: Overall
The Department has pursued
opportunities to reduce unnecessary
responses as determined by Medical
Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) triage
(Omega determinant). Thus far, enabling
State and County EMS policies have not
materialized. As an alternative, the
Department has engaged County EMS to
resolve low-acuity EMS service requests
for high-call volume facilities. Efforts will
continue on this work plan item.
Table 3: Response Time Work Plan (Completed)
# Project Comments
1 Analyze/Validate Response Time
Data/Determine Impact on Response
Performance
Status: Completed
Segment: Overall
The Department provided the San
José Fire Department Response
Time Performance Initial Analysis in
April 2014 with third-party
methodology review and validation
by Athena Advanced Networks. This
process is now ongoing and is the
source of data cited in this report.
The Department will monitor CAD
upgrade impacts to ensure
continuity of data reporting
procedures.
4 Data Warehouse
Status: Completed
Timeline: Ongoing10
Segment: Overall
This tool centralizes data from multiple
sources and would be the data source for
reporting and business intelligence tools.
This item was implemented in December
2018.
5 Enable Intergraph iTracker (“Halo”)
Status: Completed
Segment: Turnout and Travel Time
This feature records en-route and onscene information utilizing the Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system. iTracker
can provide greater data reliability than
manual entry via MDC performed by
10 Although the project is completed, the Department is continuously refining and adjusting to new developments as they occur.
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response personnel. This item was
completed in January 2018.
6 Implement Early Dispatch
Status: Completed
Segment: Call Processing Time
In March 2014, the Department eliminated
“station pre-alerts” and adopted “early
dispatch” procedures for EMS responses
to improve dispatch time. As a result, all
EMS dispatches became Code 3 until
completion of Emergency Medical
Dispatch (EMD) triage. This procedure
results in simultaneous dispatch of
Rescue Medics with the appropriate
resource continued upon completion of
triage. Emergency Fire Dispatch (EFD)
procedures were also refined on August 1,
2016.
7 9-1-1 Phone System Upgrade
Status: Completed
Segment: Call Processing Time
New system hardware installation was
completed in June 2016, and system
training (Power MIS) was completed in
September 2016. Installation of system
monitoring hardware in the control room
was completed in March 2018.
11 EMS Quality Assurance Update
Status: Completed
Timeline: Ongoing11
Segment: Call Processing Time
Training was completed in July 2016, and
software and protocols were upgraded on
August 1, 2016. This process recurs with
software and protocol updates and
upgrades.
12 Organizational Review
Status: Completed
Segment: Overall
Report accepted, along with the Fire
Department Strategic Business Plan in
June 2016.
13 Turnout Time
Status: Completed
Segment: Turnout Time
Performance data isolating turnout time
performance is provided to field personnel
bi-monthly. Daily turnout time performance
reports have been deployed in the
Business Intelligence Tools.
11 Although the project is completed, the Department is continuously refining and adjusting to new developments as they occur.
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16 Traffic Signal Preemption (Emergency
Vehicle Preemption, EVP)
Status: Completed
Segment: Travel Time
This effort expands traffic signal
preemption more broadly across the city.
The Department collaborated with Police
Department Communications, Information
Technology Department, and Department
of Transportation to leverage their
systems to significantly expand signal
preemption. The system was fully
deployed in December 2018 with a total of
948 intersections.
20 Unit Availability
Status: Completed
Segment: Travel Time
The Department has implemented various
strategies to reduce unit out-of-service
time, including adjusted training
scheduling and conducting administrative
details on and off duty on an overtime
basis. Backfill resources to cover staffing
gaps created when companies are out-ofservice for training, enabled by the 2016- 2017 Adopted Operating Budget action.
23 Station Alerting System
Status: Completed
Segment: Call Processing and Turnout
Time
The 2016-2017 Adopted Capital Budget
approved $1.3 million to support the
implementation of an upgraded station
alerting system. The upgraded fire station
alerting system automates some
dispatching steps, resulting in reduced call
processing times. In October 2017, the
Council approved a funding increase for a
total of $1.5 million. This project was
completed in August 2020, and the
Department is in monitoring and
maintenance mode.
24 Response to County Jail and County
Facilities
Status: Completed
Timeline: Ongoing Monitoring
Segment: Travel Time
In December 2014, Santa Clara County
released a Limited Scope Management
Audit of Emergency Medical Services
Response Times which recommended
that the County develop additional policies
limiting when the County Jail and Valley
Medical Center call 9-1-1 for assistance
on medical emergencies based on the
existence of trained medical personnel at
those facilities. The County has initiated
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actions to reduce unnecessary 9-1-1 calls,
and the Department continues to monitor
County Jail facility call volume.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
The Department will return to the Committee in spring 2026 with its next Annual Fire Department Operations Report on call volumes and emergency response times performance metrics.
COORDINATION
This memorandum has been coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office and the City Manager’s Budget Office.
ROBERT SAPIEN, JR.
Fire Chief, Fire Department
For questions, please contact Robert Sapien, Jr., Fire Chief, at (408) 794-6952.