{"id":2458677,"date":"2020-05-21T00:56:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T06:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/consultant-aspen-fire-needs-to-change-but-not-too-much\/"},"modified":"2020-05-21T00:56:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T06:56:01","slug":"consultant-aspen-fire-needs-to-change-but-not-too-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/consultant-aspen-fire-needs-to-change-but-not-too-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Consultant: Aspen Fire needs to change, but not too much"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">The Aspen Fire Department Board\u2019s decision last month to hire nine paid firefighters at the historically volunteer organization could cut response time in half, a consultant said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But the department needs to improve more than just the time it takes to get to fires, he said. It also must develop a more coherent vision, better and more consistent training and greater financial transparency, said Rich Buchanan with Emergency Services Consulting International.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe Aspen Fire Protection District is a remarkable organization, but I believe it\u2019s at a crossroads,\u201d he said Wednesday. \u201cWhat worked for the last 50 years might not work for the next 50.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Still, Aspen Fire\u2019s volunteer tradition should not be cast away, he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe volunteer system as it exists in Aspen will be here for a long time and should be,\u201d Buchanan said. \u201cIt is the backbone of this organization and we need to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Buchanan appeared Wednesday at the AFD Board\u2019s regular meeting to give a presentation based on information he gathered in Aspen in December, and the 137-page report that came out of that visit. Wednesday\u2019s meeting was held mostly virtually, though Buchanan, Fire Chief Rick Balentine and another person or two were in the fire station meeting room where the presentation was given.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The report cost between $30,000 and $35,000, Balentine said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Wednesday\u2019s meeting was the first to include the board\u2019s newest member, Michael Buglione, a local construction supervisor and former Pitkin County Sheriff\u2019s deputy elected earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While volunteers clearly provide the department\u2019s backbone, the needs of the Aspen and Pitkin County communities often cause backaches for those volunteers, Buchanan said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">First, an analysis of Aspen Fire Department calls showed that they begin to rise about 7 a.m. most days, and run through the day and into the evening before beginning to drop off again around 7 p.m. Second, unlike most populated areas, a majority of the department\u2019s calls come Monday through Friday, with calls gradually rising throughout the week and peaking Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Saturday and Sunday show a large drop in calls, he said, noting that the discrepancy is so unusual that analysts ran the numbers twice to make sure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Taken together, that is a double-whammy for volunteers, who often must take time from work to respond to calls, causing burnout and fatigue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cMonday through Friday you guys are busy,\u201d Buchanan said. \u201cThis is the reason to re-evaluate your staffing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen Fire\u2019s overall response time to calls is 15:16, he said. However, that may not be entirely accurate because AFD personnel often respond to calls in personal vehicles, which don\u2019t count toward an official response time that should only include fire engine response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The department needs to be able to separate out those private vehicle responses in the future to obtain a more accurate response time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Department statistics show the response time for a fire \u00ad\u2014 about 1% of calls \u2014 is 24:19, Buchanan said. That includes volunteers arriving at the station, putting on equipment and driving away in a fire truck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou can cut at least nine minutes off most of your calls \u2026 by having two (paid firefighters) sitting in this building,\u201d he said. \u201c You could cut (the fire response time) in half, maybe more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Paid firefighters also could help the department reshape its response to alarms, which constitute the largest single category of calls it receives. Those calls are currently screened, but Buchanan said he believes fire trucks need to respond to every commercial fire alarm that occurs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe risk is too high with big hotels\u201d if you don\u2019t, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For residential alarms, however, the department needs to come up with a plan. One example might be to charge someone if an alarm continues to malfunction, a tactic that likely ensures proper maintenance, Buchanan said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The consultant pushed department officials fairly hard to look at instituting paramedic services to back up those now provided by employees of the Aspen Ambulance District. Aspen Fire currently only helped out with emergency medical services in 2% of calls, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While Aspen Ambulance does a good job and provides a faster response time than AFD, their calls are increasing and during peak times, \u201cI think they could use some help,\u201d Buchanan said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen Fire also needs a strategic plan, which would include the department\u2019s vision, values and goals. Community stakeholders, elected officials and other agencies need to be involved in coming up with that plan, perhaps in the form of a survey, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Other areas in need of improvement include an inconsistent training regimen and finances that remain too general, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI believe you manage your money well,\u201d Buchanan said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, for greater transparency, greater detail and itemization of expenses is necessary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat helps to justify your expenses to your constituents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One area of controversy absent from Wednesday\u2019s presentation was any mention of tensions between Balentine and the leaders of other area emergency services agencies. Those <a id=\"N0x1cf2fa0N0x1cefcb0:N0x1cf2fa0N0x1cc53a8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/area-public-safety-leaders-aspen-fire-chief-is-a-problem\/\">tensions turned to frustrations in September<\/a> when three of those leaders, who were later interviewed by Buchanan in the course of his information gathering in December, went public with criticisms of Balentine and their inability to work with him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But the only reference to the rift comes on page 116 of the 137-page report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe environment between AFD and surrounding agencies appeared to be strained and has resulted in limited interagency cooperation,\u201d the report states. \u201cA lack of cooperation can compromise mutual aid responses, fire ground operations and overall service delivery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201c(The consulting firm) recommends the development and implementation of a process to improve interagency cooperation throughout Pitkin County.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The AFD Board voted a month ago to hire nine paid firefighters, which will result in professionals being able to cover three 24-hour shifts, Balentine said Wednesday. A fourth 24-hour shift will be covered by volunteers, he said. Two of those shifts will always be posted at the downtown Aspen station, while the other two will float, Balentine said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Paid firefighters in Aspen would likely make an average base salary of $65,000 with benefits of $26,650 for a total compensation package of $91,650, according to a financial analysis provided in the consulting firm\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On Wednesday, Balentine said those numbers are generally accurate, and that the positions will cost about $100,000 each, with the total approaching $1 million a year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The department hopes to hire the firefighters in July and have them start the first week of August, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jauslander@aspentimes.com\">jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/consultant-aspen-fire-needs-to-change-but-not-too-much\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Aspen Fire Department Board\u2019s decision last month to hire nine paid firefighters at the historically volunteer organization could cut response time in half, a consultant said Wednesday. But the department needs to improve more than just the time it takes to get to fires, he said. It also must develop a more coherent vision, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 10:15:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}