Fire Department Annual Report - 2018

2018 ANNUAL REPORT

FIRE DEPARTMENT

Message from the Interim Fire Chief In 2018, the Lee’s Summit Fire Department continued to provide exceptional service to the community, responding to 10,688 incidents, marking a new record for the second straight year.

The Fire Department also continued to build for the future with the groundbreaking for Fire Station No. 3, working to retain Accredited Agency status and preparing for an upgrade of the emergency radio system.

As Lee’s Summit grows, it is essential the Fire Department invest in continual improvements to meet the highest quality standards this community deserves. In 2018, the Fire Department published a community driven five-year strategic plan as part of the accreditation process.

The updated strategic plan identified eight goals to enhance strengths and address weaknesses and concerns of the community.

The Fire Department and community commemorated the groundbreaking of Fire Station No. 3, located off Pryor Road.

The Fire Department began a Standards of Cover update to address response performance and gaps in key areas of response.

Substantial progress has been made with the emergency radio system digital upgrade which is funded through the 2016 no-taxincrease bond initiative. Lee’s Summit’s current radio system makes it difficult to communicate with other municipalities and agencies during emergency situations. The upgrade will make Lee’s Summit a part of the Metropolitan Area Regional Radio System, greatly improving communication with regional partners on mutual aid operations. The system upgrade is scheduled to go live in late 2019 and will have an immediate positive impact on the safety of the men and women of the Lee’s Summit Fire Department.

It is also important to recognize individual accomplishments within the department.

After serving the Fire Department for more than 30 years, including the last three as fire chief, Rick Poeschl retired in 2019.

Under his leadership, the Fire Department

received Accredited Agency Status for the first time in the City’s history. Captain Darrel Clowes was recognized as Firefighter of the Year in 2018. Captain Clowes has played a pivotal role in the accreditation process and has enhanced relationships with internal and external partners. During the holiday season, members of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2195 collected a record amount of $30,000 for Lee’s Summit Social Services through the annual Boot Block. They also participated in the annual 9/11 Stair Climb, honoring those firefighters killed on September 11.

The Lee’s Summit Fire Department is committed to excellence and proud to serve the community. The men and women of the Fire Department are guided by the values of professionalism, respect, integrity, duty and excellence and will display those values in whatever challenges they face in the year ahead.

Yours Truly,

At A Glance

Community RISK REDUCTION •

Mission Statement The Lee's Summit Fire Department is dedicated to meet the increasing needs of the community by providing safe, progressive and efficient services, while honoring our values and traditions.

The Safety Education program reached 21 elementary schools, teaching fire safety to 4,521 students in 2018.

• Prevention performed 1,500 business inspections or visits (occupancy/life safety complaints/fire protection system tests and inspections).

• Prevention performed 418 combined permit reviews (special event reviews/photovoltaic system reviews).

Operations supplemented Prevention by performing these inspections while on duty: • 2,241 annual business inspections • A-shift completed 761 • B-shift completed 636 • C-shift completed 844

Fire SUPPRESSION In 2018, the department was dispatched to the following fire calls: • 84 residential structure fires • 25 commercial structure fires • 56 vehicle fires • 81 Brush fires

Most common room of origin for residential structure fires. #2

#1

#3 #4

Emergency MEDICAL SERVICES

P R I D E

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ntegrity uty

xcellence

Most frequent, potentially life threatening EMS incident responses: 1. Traumatic injury 2. Respiratory distress 3. Chest pain Responses: 7,400 Transports: 6,198 (84%) Hospital transfers: 765

Top 5 incident types 1. Sick 2. Falls 3. Traffic accidents 4. Breathing problem 5. Chest pain

Tactical MEDIC PROGRAM The Tactical Medic Team (TMT) coordinates the Lee's Summit Police with Fire in order to provide the best care during high-risk operations. The TMT trains with the Emergency Services Squad and Bomb Squad during monthly trainings, and provides trauma medical training to the police and fire departments, including school district employees. The TMT was deployed 15 times in 2018.

Looking Ahead The department protects the community from seven fire stations in the city.

Deploying from those stations are five fire engines, two aerial ladder trucks, six rescue ambulances and two operations chiefs who are responsible for protecting a total of 72.41 square miles.

Our responders, consisting of 139 sworn and 15 nonsworn, provide service to the 103,723 citizens of Lee’s Summit, Greenwood and Unity Village.

Fire Station

2018 Population

Square Miles

1

14,670

6.08

2

9,937

9.40

3

17,802

8.66

4

16,639

11.43

5

16,572

15.70

6

20,193

10.71

7

7,701

10.47

§ ¦ ¨ 470

To maintain an ISO 2 PPC rating and to meet the intent of the Commission on Fire Accreditation, the department seeks to address these initiatives in the coming years: • Approval to build and staff an additional fire station in the northern portion of the City to address response time gaps and improve departmental resiliency.

• Approval to purchase and staff a rescue ambulance for Fire Station No. 3.

• Acquisition of another ladder truck to improve service capabilities.

• Increase staffing levels in the Communications Center to address the growing call volume and meet national staffing standards.

• Increase administrative staffing levels to address and improve the span of control and management of the department.

40 I J

Blue Springs Reservoir

East Lakewood Lake West Lakewood Lake

! = Sta. 4

§ ¦ ¨ 470

Lake Jacomo

Lee's Summit Municipal Airport

! Sta. 2 =

N M

Prairie Lee Lake

350

N M

§ ¦ ¨

291

470

50 I J

Sta. 1

Sta. 6

50 I J

Longview Lake

In 2018, the department responded to 10,688 incidents, which resulted in 22,831 individual apparatus assignments. On average, 63 emergency vehicles responded to 29 incidents per day.

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Sta. 3 =

! = Sta. 7

N M 291

N M 150

! = Sta. 5

Raintree Lake

N M 291

COMMUNICATIONS

The number of emergency incidents the department responds to each year has increased as Lee’s Summit continues to grow. City growth impacts the Fire Department by 100 annual calls for service for every 1,000 new citizens.

The Fire Department has its own 911 dispatching center, with 13 highly trained communications specialists working across four shifts, 24 hours a day.

Map Updated: April 2019

5 Year Demand by Program

The Communications Center serves the citizens of Lee’s Summit and maintains contract agreements with seven other fire departments for fire and emergency medical dispatching services.

911 Call Volume 20,000

10,000

207 SE Douglas Street | 816.969.1300