Volusia expands fire service, raises topic of countywide department

News-Journal (Daytona Beach, FL)

March 25-- Mar. 25--Weeks after taking action to beef up its emergency medical services system by adding more staff and ambulances, the Volusia County Council approved a $12 million staff recommendation to make Fire Rescue, the other arm of that two-tiered system, more efficient.

The plan will add nine firefighters, more trucks and replace two 40-year-old stations -- one in Ormond Beach and another in New Smyrna Beach -- with new ones that are closer to main roads where calls are most likely to occur.

But that's a small change compared with the massive reconfiguration some council members would like to see happen. County Chair Ed Kelley and Ben Johnson said it's time to consider consolidating city and county fire departments under one unified umbrella as a way to cut costs and improve service to residents.

That idea, which was last explored and studied in 2010 but never got very far, will likely come up again in future discussions as County Manager George Recktenwald has agreed to talk to city leaders about the possibility. For now, the county is moving forward with the improvement plan council agreed to last Tuesday that will be funded through its fire service fund.

That revenue source grew bulkier in 2015 when the council controversially hiked the fire tax paid by residents in unincorporated areas. With that extra money, the county can begin work to replenish positions that were slashed during the Great Recession, said Recktenwald.

"Fire services lost quite a bit of people during the downturn of the economy. The idea was to bring them back strategically," he said in a phone interview, noting that some stations house two firefighters, when they should ideally hold three.

But the change is also a part of countywide effort, under new leadership, to reassess every department and ensure they are up to date with current demands.

"I wouldn't say this is an overhaul," said Recktenwald, who officially became county manager in February, eight months after Jim Dinneen resigned in June after 11 years at the helm. "It's more like an evolution. We are trying to make sure we have a culture when we are always self-evaluating and looking ahead and being proactive."

A closer look

The EVAC system of 50 ambulances and more than 150 paramedics was the first to see major changes under Recktenwald's watch.

After the city of Port Orange agreed to purchase its own ambulance last summer due to a lack of trust in the county's system, county staff sought ways to make it better. Two top-level administrators departed and were replaced.

And in February the council agreed to add seven ambulances, 28 emergency medical technicians and a nurse triage to field nonemergency calls -- a $5 million investment over the next three years that could lead to a property tax increase down the road.

[Volusia to put $5 million into EVAC]

With that plan in place, the county turned its attention to fire services, which consists of 168 firefighters, working out of 18 stations. The group responded to 12,905 calls and 5,296 fire calls in 2018, records show.

Recktenwald said you can't adjust one tier without giving the other a closer look. "The idea of the two-tier system is that you have to make sure both tiers are where they need to be."

The county's public protection division unpacked its suggestions for fire services at a council meeting last week. With the exception of a $3 million proposal to replace a station in Daytona Beach with a new one less than two minutes away, the plan received a warm reception from council members.

Employees would be added into next year's budget, while the two new stations would be built over the next six to eight years with chances for the public to weigh in along the way.

But expect fire rescue to be a topic of much discussion before then.

"This is a long process," said Councilwoman Heather Post. "The nine personnel is an excellent start, but this a start to the process. I want everyone in the public to understand: This is not saying, 'Here you go, poof. We are done.' We are not done assessing the system and ensuring that we are providing a more effective response to the citizens."

Consolidation?

Kelley and Johnson said consolidation is the answer to providing the best level of service.

Johnson pointed out that some county and city fire stations are practically "side by side." He noted that the county's 911 communications center was consolidated years back to handle calls for the cities. He doesn't see any reason why fire rescue couldn't be handled the same way.

"It might be time to involve our citizens to consider the possibility of some consolidation," he said. "This is a very important subject," he added, with "a lot of tax dollars" tied into it.

"We need to to get the best bang for our buck and the most safety for the citizens," Johnson said.

The idea has come up before and the fact it's never gotten very far is "a disservice to citizens," said Kelley, adding that it would likely take some of the burden off taxpayers considering how expensive fire departments are for the 12 cities that have one.

"We'd be far better served with a unified, consolidated form of fire service than having it all split up," he said. "Do we need 13 fire chiefs? Sorry fire chiefs out there. Maybe you could be a different chief in a bigger system."

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