Appendix J
Fire Response Analysis
FIRE RESPONSE TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
To:
From: Dudek Fire Protection Planning Team, Michael Huff, Principal Subject: Gran Vista Los Posas Project Fire and Medical Response Analysis Date: June 23, 2022
cc: N/A
Attachment(s): 1. San Marcos Fire Department Fire Station 1 Modeled Response Time
2. San Marcos Fire Department Fire Station 2 Modeled Response Time
The following technical memorandum provides a summary of Dudek’s fire service response analysis for the San Marcos Gran Vista Los Posas Project (Project) in San Marcos, California. This letter provides a preliminary summary of the existing San Marcos Fire Department’s (SMFD) nearby resources, th eir modeled travel time responses into the Project. The goal is to determine whether the Project can be served within the SMFD’s internal response time standards.
1 Assignment
Dudek’s assignment was to:
• Conduct evaluation of existing, nearby SMFD fire station travel times to the project site; and • Analyze generated information to determine if any of the Project site cannot be reached within the City’s response time goal; and
• Evaluate the Project’s emergency call generation volume and analyze the potential impact on SMFD. 2 Project Description
The proposed Project is the development of a vacant approximately 7.6 -acre site located in the undeveloped northwest corner of the intersection of Las Posas Road and W. Mission Road in the City of San Marcos, California.
There is a CVS store just southeast of the site, of which the parking lot overlaps the Project site. The Project site is located on the 7.5-minute San Marcos quadrangle map on Sections 3 and 10, in Township 12 South, Range 3 West of the San Bernardino Base and Meridian. It comprises Tax As sessor parcel numbers – APN 219-121-15-00 and 219-121-16-00. The site is General Plan designated C-Commercial (City of San Marcos 2012).
FIRE PROTECTION TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: GRAN VISTA LOS POSAS PROJECT
13528 2 JUNE 2022
The Project involves the construction of a residential development. The residential units would include 122 townhome units, 244 garage spaces, 21 guest parking spaces, and 19,400 square feet of open space areas.
The Project is located within the jurisdiction of the SMFD. The fire department provides structural fire protection and advanced life support-level emergency medical services within the City limits; unincorporated territory adjacent to the city’s northern boundary (Project Area); discontinuous, unincorporated areas between the City of San Marcos and the City of Escondido; and the community of Lake San Marcos. The fire department operates two primary Fire Stations (Stations 1 and 2) that would respond to an incident at the proposed Project site, with first-due response likely from Station 1 given its closer location and greater coverage in a faster timeframe. Station 2 would respond as necessary. Table 1 presents a summary of the location, equipment, and staffing levels for the two SMFD stations responding to the site.
Table 1
SMFD Responding Fire Stations Summary
Fire Station Location Equipment Staffing
Station 1 180 W. Mission Road
San Marcos, California 92069
Paramedic Engine
Co.
Paramedic Truck Co.
Wildland Fire Engine
Paramedic
Ambulance
Battalion Chief
Vehicle
On duty: 9
Station 2 1250 S. Rancho Santa Fe Rd San
Marcos, California 92069
Paramedic Engine
Co.
Paramedic
Ambulance
On-duty: 5
3 Methods
3.1 Travel Time Response Modeling
Dudek conducted a GIS-based travel time coverage modeling effort in order to determine if the project meets the SMFD’s response goal. The SMFD indicates “the average initial total response standard in the City of San Marcos is to arrive within seven minutes for 90% of the emergency calls received, and within 10 minutes for 90% of the non-emergency calls received1.”
Travel time is one part of the overall response time and is based largely on the distance from the fire station to the project. The analysis that follows evaluates travel time and assumes the dispatch and turnout times as a constant i.e., 2 minutes and 30 seconds, total.
1 2021 Call volume, response standard, and fire station statistics provided by Jason Nailon, SMFD Fire Marshal, via e -mail communication. 2021
FIRE PROTECTION TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: GRAN VISTA LOS POSAS PROJECT
13528 3 JUNE 2022
3.2 GI
S Response Travel Time Modeling
Following compilation of all necessary data layers received from project applicant and acquired via publicly available sources, Dudek verified that all data layers were in the correct State Plane Zone coordinate system with units in feet. A network data set was then created utilizing ESRI’s Network Analyst extension in the Arc Catalog module. The data set was created by merging the existing centerline street layer w ith the proposed Gra
n Vista Lo
s Posas Pr
oject
centerline street data, provided by project applicants, and assigning parameters to the created data set. Several parameters a
re a
vailable d
uring t
he cre
ation o
f a
n
etwork d
ata s
et a
nd i
nclude ele
vation c
onstraints, U
-turn
capabilities, curb approach direction and travel impedance.
Due to the emergency nature of the response scenarios modeled in this analysis, U-turns were permitted on every road. C
urb a
pproach d
etermines o
n w
hich sid
e of
th
e st
reet t
he v
ehicle n
eeds to
a
pproach a
nd i
ncludes t
hree
options, left, right, or either. The ‘either’ option was selected for all roads in this analysis based on the emergency nature of the response situations. Finally, travel impedance was utilized to include the effect of speed limits on response travel time. A custom impedance value was created for each road segment and was a function of road segment distance (miles) divided by speed (mph). This value was utilized in Network Analyst calculations for both modeling types and reflected the time necessary for a vehicle to cover the distance of the road segment. Speed was s
et a
t 3
5 m
ph, co
nsistent w
ith Na
tional F
ire Pr
otection A
ssociation (
NFPA) 1
142 T
able C.1
1(b) a
nd th
e
Insurance Services Office (ISO) travel time formula (T=0.65 +1.7D).
Once t
he n
etwork d
ata s
et pa
rameters w
ere f
inalized, th
e r
oute a
nalysis w
as ru
n u
sing th
e N
etwork An
alyst
extension in ArcGIS 10.2.2. This function determines the best route between a minimum of two points based on the parameters chosen. The analysis includes response from SMFD Fire Stations 1 a nd 2
, which are the closest
stations to the Project. A route analysis procedure was then run using Network Analyst with each respective fire station as the starting point, and a remote location within the Project as the destination. The maps depicting each Station travel time coverage area are presented in Attachments 1 a nd 2
.
3.3 Mod
eling Results
As indicated in Table 2 and Attachments 1 a
nd 2
, response to the project site from the closest existing SMFD fire station (Station 1
) would a
rrive at the Project’s prim
ary en
trance off
W. Mission Road w
ithin 3
minutes, 2
3 seconds
tr
avel ti
me (
5minutes 5
3 s
econds t
otal re
sponse t
ime). T
he m
ost re
mote u
nits w
ithin t
he Pr
oject a
re reached
w
ithin 3 m
inutes 3
6 s
econds tr
avel ti
me, or
6 m
inutes 0
6 se
conds total r
esponse t
ime. T
his analysis indicates
t
hat t
he e
ntire P
roject i
s w
ithin t
he SM
FD’s int
ernal re
sponse ti
meframes w
ith u
p t
o 5
4 se
conds of additional
t
ime available. This analysis also i
ndicates t
hat St
ation 2 is
n
ot close e
nough t
o m
eet t
he 7
minute
response time, but does arrive within 5 minutes 33 seconds (8 minutes 03 seconds total response time).
FIRE PROTECTION TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: GRAN VISTA LOS POSAS PROJECT
13528 4 JUNE 2022
Table 2
SMFD Fire Station Response Time to Project
Call Response Times
Estimated Percent of San Marcos Restaurant Row Project Achievable Fire Station 1 Fire Station 2
Travel Time
Total Response
Time Travel Time
Total Response
Time
Less than 7 minutes 100% 100% 100% 0%
3.4 Response Time Capability Assessment
The Project includes a substantial number of new residential structures. Service level requirements could, in the absence of fire facilities and resources improvements, cause a decline in the SMFD response times and capabilities for existing residents. However, it is clear that from a response time perspective, the project does comply with the City’s total response time standard.
4 Call Volume Analysis
4.1 Estimated Calls and Demand for Service from the Project The SMFD estimates a pproximately 11,486 total annual calls (Nailon, J. 2021) and a City population of approximately 95,000 (SMFD 2021). The per capita call volume is roughly .12 for the City of San Marcos. The Project plans for 122 new dwelling units. As a conservative approach, this analysis assumes a per dwelling unit population of 3 persons per unit.
A population of 366 persons would generate approximately 44 calls per year, most of which are expected to be medical-related calls, consistent with typical emergency call statistics.
The closest SMFD fire stations, Stations 1 and 2 currently responds to roughly 16 to 18 calls per day (up to 6,570 calls per year) in their primary service areas. These are busy fire stations and adding calls can cumulatively create an impact and result in longer response times or stacked calls requiring assistance from more distant fire stations.
It is anticipated that the Project’s contrib utions, along with other projects’ contributions to fire service and availability fees through property taxes and/or other avenues provide funding needed to augment service capabilities such that an impact is not experienced. Despite the current busy call load, an addition of 44 calls per year, or 1 call every 8 days, is not expected to significantly impact service level requirements given the measures that can be implemented by SMFD with provided ongoing funding from new development.
FIRE PROTECTION TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: GRAN VISTA LOS POSAS PROJECT
13528 5 JUNE 2022
5 Discussion and findings
5.1 Emergency Response
As presented, Station 1 is well-within the City’s time response goal for first-in fire engine and medic ambulance to the entire Project site.
5.2 Call Volume/Load
The Project would generate emergency calls, primarily medical, proportionally with its population. At build out, there may be as many as 44 calls per year generated by the on-site population. The addition of one call per 8 days or to a station that is currently running approxim ately 17 to 18 calls per day is not considered a significant increase.
Based on the information provided by SMFD, the Project’s additional call volume should not cause a significant stress on the response capabilities. However, SMFD would make the final determination, b ased on specific fire station call volumes (which were not provided for this analysis), whether the station would incur delayed response times or an increase in call volume that could not be absorbed.
6 Recommendations
The following Recommendation is provided based on the preceding analysis:
It is recommended that SMFD provide emergency response to the proposed Project from Station 1. Factors supporting this recommendation are the absorbable number of calls that would be anticipated as the Proj ect is built and the response time that is within range of local and national standards.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need any additional information. I look forward to continuing to work with you on this project’s fire safety considerations.
FIRE PROTECTION TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: GRAN VISTA LOS POSAS PROJECT
13528 6 JUNE 2022
Attachment 1
Travel Time Response to Project from
Existing San Marcos Fire Station 1
3:36
3:23
BALBOA ST
PALMAC ST
HALTER PL
ARMORLITE DR
COMETCIR
PRIVATE RD
PALOMARCOSAVE
SILVER SPUR WAY
GRANITE RD
PALM RD
NLASPOSASRD
N PACIFIC ST
W MISSION RD
San Marcos Fire Station #1 - Drive Times
Gran Vista, Las Posas Project
SOURCE: SANGIS 2020, 2021; GMP 2021
Date: 6/16/2022 - Last saved by: tfriesen - Path: Z:\Projects\j1352801\MAPDOC\DOCUMENT\UrbanForestry\Figure01_SMFS1_DriveTi me.mxd 0 200100
Feet
Project Boundary
Fire Station
Response Routes
Drive Times
3 to 3.5 minutes
3.5 to 4 minutes
FIGURE 1
San Marcos
Fire Station 1
Project Site
FIRE PROTECTION TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: GRAN VISTA LOS POSAS PROJECT
13528 7 JUNE 2022
Attachment 2
Travel Time Response to Project from
Existing San Marcos Fire Station 2
5:37
5:33
BALBOA ST
PALMAC ST
HALTER PL
ARMORLITE DR
COMETCIR
PRIVATE RD
PALOMARCOSAVE
SILVER SPUR WAY
GRANITE RD
PALM RD
NLASPOSASRD
N PACIFIC ST
W MISSION RD
San Marcos Fire Station #2 - Drive Times
Gran Vista, Las Posas Project
SOURCE: SANGIS 2020, 2021; GMP 2021
Date: 6/16/2022 - Last saved by: tfriesen - Path: Z:\Projects\j1352801\MAPDOC\DOCUMENT\UrbanForestry\Figure02_SMFS2_DriveTi me.mxd 0 200100
Feet
Project Boundary
Fire Station
Response Routes
Drive Times
5.5 to 6 minutes
FIGURE 2
San Marcos
Fire Station 2
Project Site