Fire Station Renovation Timeline Presented
Kim Cates, president of the Turkey Creek Fire Territory Board, put together a 19-page timeline for the improvements to be made to the Syracuse Fire Station. The document was supposed to be presented to members of the Syracuse Town Council at its regular monthly meeting Sept. 17, but due to a mix up it is unknown as to when or if members of the town council received Cates’ timeline.
She wanted the council to have the information prior to it voting on the proposed renovation of Fire Station No. 1.
The timeline addresses the process the fire territory board went through to determine the best option of either replacing or renovating Fire Station No. 1. Those options included building a new fire station.
Discussion about replacing or renovating the station began in March 2010. At the time, the fire department researched the possibility of building a new station. However, due to the estimated cost of $1 million and no guarantee of winning a grant to help with the expense, the fire department turned to researching renovating the fire station. During this time, the option of purchasing a house to provide dorm space near the station became available and was researched as well.
According to Cates’ report, purchasing a separate house near the station to provide men’s and women’s dorms, as well as storage space, would not work. Firefighters had several issues regarding living quarters separate from the station. Those included the fact that citizens often come directly to the fire station either in a vehicle or on foot to seek help during an emergency, to report an emergency, or to request information. Citizens would not necessarily know that fire and EMS personnel are not at the station causing delays in receiving assistance.
There was also concern about delaying response times to emergencies by personnel having to travel from off-site to the station. These delays could become even longer in inclement weather. There is also the risk of fire personnel being injured due to falls on wet and icy surfaces while getting to the station to respond to a call, not only causing delays in response time, but also added expense in workers compensation claims and additional overtime pay to provide coverage for any injured person.
There would also be additional expenses of adding telephone lines and additional monthly bills for utilities and insurance on the house. In an interview, Cates said, in addition to the six reasons noted in her report, there was also a two page hand-written “pro and con” list regarding purchasing a separate house in the fire territory’s records.
Cates also prepared for the council, information from a tour of the Nappanee Fire Station and EMS base she took with councilman Larry Siegel and Syracuse Town Manager Henry DeJulia on Sept. 13. The Nappanee Fire Department is all volunteer with the exception of the chief. Nappanee’s EMS program has 8 full-time employees and 16 volunteers.
“Although the communities are close in proximity, they have different needs, different geographic challenges, different funding, different staff and different home values,” the report stated. Two major differences according to the report is the Turkey Creek Fire Territory staffs two stations, which improved response times and “the distance between structures is extremely different, with lake structures close together and the landscape different.”
Identifying The Differences
Prior to the Turkey Creek Fire Territory – and most recently the Syracuse Town Council – vote to renovate Fire Station No. 1, many in the community suggested the Turkey Creek Fire Territory purchase a house to provide dorm space, just like the Nappanee EMS Department did 11 years ago.
The Nappanee EMS Department has eight full-time employees, three are women; and 16 volunteers, two are women.
Jim Sumpter, director of Nappanee EMS, said the department decided it was more economical to purchase a house than add onto the building. EMS employees cross a small parking lot or can cut through the Nappanee Police Department to get to the ambulance bays. Sumpter said if the weather is nice, EMS personnel can park the ambulance at the house and plug it in there. He noted EMS personnel are not allowed to run at a call.
In Syracuse, there have been reports of people going directly to the fire station with an emergency or to report an emergency. In Nappanee, Sumpter said no one goes either to the EMS building or to the house EMS employees use. Instead, they have 24-hour access to a phone located in the foyer of the police department. The phone is a direct line to the dispatch center.
In a memo to the Syracuse Town Council and Turkey Creek Fire Territory Board of Directors, Kim Cates, president of the Turkey Creek Fire Territory, reported the combined fire and EMS budget for Nappanee was $1,058,311 for 2013 and a proposed $1,079,806 for 2014. Sumpter explained the Nappanee Town Council sets the budget for both the fire department and EMS. There is an equipment cumulative fund and when a new piece of equipment needs to be purchased, the matter is brought before the Nappanee Board of Works.
The trucks Nappanee EMS uses are medium duty. He said ambulance replacement is scheduled for every 4 years, however, “All three of my crews do an incredible job of keeping things in tiptop shape,” Sumpter said. He has been able to push the equipment replacement schedule to six years.
Turkey Creek Township Fire Chief Mickey Scott said his department is on a 12-year replacement schedule. A new ambulance is purchased every four years, so there is currently a brand new ambulance, one that is four years old and one that is eight years old. When the 8-year-old ambulance is 12 years old it is pulled out of rotation and a new ambulance is purchased. He noted the original replacement schedule for the fire territory has been changed five times since the fire territory was created in 2009, at the request of the fire territory board.
Another difference Cates noted in her memo was in coverage area. In her memo, Cates noted the Nappanee Fire Department served 8,000 taxpayers. Sumpter said the EMS department serves 160 square miles. The Turkey Creek Fire Territory serves 10,000 people for seven months and around 30,000 people the rest of the year.
Sumpter noted Nappanee has interlocal agreements providing paramedic interception with both Wakarusa and New Paris. Both of those departments are charged a flat fee of $200. Those departments then bill the patient accordingly. Sumpter added there has been some discussion about raising that fee in the future.