Staffing study looks at future needs of Derby FD

While the grant was not received, the positions with Derby FD were eventually added in 2022 and those efforts also set the wheels in motion to look at the bigger picture needs of the department. A fire staffing study was also approved, which was completed by AP Triton last year and presented to the Derby City Council at its Jan. 10 meeting.

Derby Fire and Rescue has not had a staffing study done since the city moved to a full-time paid fire department in 2005. With the city currently looking at the future of the Derby Difference sales tax as well (which partially funds Derby FD), a staffing study was pursued to analyze community growth and current/future needs of the department.

Immediate needs

Richard Buchanan, senior project manager for AP Triton, presented the staffing study to the Derby City Council – noting it is rare he works with municipalities in such a strong position.

“You have a very good fire department. They’re performing well,” Buchanan said.

Analysis through the staffing study looked at five key areas: community risk assessment, service demand, response performance, system benchmarks and service delivery.

Of those, community risk assessment led to some of the most critical needs to be addressed as outlined by Buchanan. He noted some of the leadership responsibilities currently handled by Derby Fire Chief John Turner and Deputy Fire Chief Dave Hersh should be spread out.

“This man is working hard. Both of them are, actually,” Buchanan said. “They’re trying to wear too many hats, and it’s going to cross a line here because you’re going to grow.”

Buchanan specifically recommended Derby hire a full-time fire marshal to help scheduling pre-incident surveys and building inspections.

With that, Buchanan noted that would go a long ways toward both lessening the burden on leadership and enhancing prevention efforts.

“Some of the hazards you have need to be identified. You need a much more robust inspection program because, let’s face it, the only way to truly save a life as it applies to fire is not to have a fire,” Buchanan said.

Currently, administrative staffing represents nine percent of the department’s total. While current leaders cover a lot, Buchanan noted that administrative staffing in effective and efficient departments is typically around 15 percent.

Because of that, Buchanan noted some duties are being pushed down to line staff. For that reason, he also recommended hiring a training officer and coordinator to help consider specific annual training requirements for department personnel.

Looking at service demand, Buchanan reported a vast majority (60.4%) of the department’s calls are EMS-related, yet only 2.3 percent of departmental training was focused on those types of incidents between July 2020 and June 2021. A training coordinator could help identify such needs.

“I’m starting to warm up to this training position for an issue just like that,” Mayor Randy White said.

Future action

Reviewing response times for any types of calls, Derby Fire and Rescue’s average in 2021 was five minutes and 42 seconds – a number Buchanan called “truly stunning.” He also noted he had never seen a community the size of Derby with such a high performance response.

When looking at response force is where Buchanan noted some issues may come up, noting that is the biggest challenge to Derby. The study shows currently Derby has the right number of personnel to respond to fires within eight minutes in the city limits – but that is due to mutual aid from neighboring agencies.

As it stands, with the system working, that is not an immediate need to address but something Buchanan pointed out to be aware of in seeking additional personnel.

More personnel would also help in covering sick or vacation time within the department – something that again is not a major issue at present, but could become something to address down the line. With part-time employees covering shifts in those instances currently, Buchanan suggested additional personnel (through overtime pay) could potentially meet those needs in the future.

Buchanan presented a number of potential options, with the long-term goal of Derby Fire and Rescue getting to 13 total shift staff, but he did state that end point is likely “down the road quite a ways.”

Part of the staffing also denoted that any future action will rely on system benchmarks established. While the department has its own goals, Buchanan recommended the city reach out to its citizens to clarify what type of service they expect. That will more clearly outline when it may come time to pursue more firefighters, additional engines, expanding stations, etc.

One thing that Buchanan clearly stated though is that projected service demand is going to go up. Moving to receive and file the report, council president Nick Engle suggested the city “take some baby steps as we go along,” with Buchanan acknowledging an early start will benefit Derby.

“The time is now to take these steps to get ready for the future,” Buchanan said, “rather than be reactive.”