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<br />36 Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant through the Federal Emergency <br />37 Management Administration (FEMA). This grant allowed the department to hire six full-time <br />38 firefighters starting in 2021, covering their salaries and benefits for three years with no local <br />39 match. This was a critical transition in staffing for the department as it allowed the <br />40 department to staff three emergency pieces of apparatus 24/7/365, as opposed to two. The <br />41 additional six firefighters, while a huge success and addition to the department, was truly <br />42 staffing that was needed in 2018 to combat the duplicate emergency calls and emergency <br />43 calls needing multiple resources. <br />44 <br />45 Due to the increased demands placed on our daily staffing for emergency response, some <br />46 components of our Phase II plan have not been realized. These programs include <br />47 preventative focused activities such as Mobile Integrated Health (community medicine) <br />48 initiatives, annual proactive fire inspections, and a more robust fire prevention model. Given <br />49 our current structure and response demands, our fire prevention capacity is not meeting the <br />50 demands placed on it. We struggle to routinely complete permit-driven (construction) <br />51 inspections, and frequently need to reschedule multifamily and lodging inspections ‘on-the- <br />52 fly’ due to emergency calls for service, causing frustration for building management staff <br />53 and inconveniencing tenants in multifamily buildings. Additionally, we are unable to conduct <br />54 any annual routine (proactive) fire inspections of businesses within Roseville. Since the <br />55 transition to on-duty based inspections, we have learned that utilizing on-duty Fire <br />56 Inspectors for our primary fire inspection and prevention needs is not a sustainable model. <br />57 A dedicated Fire/Housing Inspector is needed to support our current inspection and <br />58 licensing programs and allow for additional inspection activities and capacity. <br />59 <br />60 Our current on-duty staffing model is falling behind many of our peers of like size and <br />61 services as well. Other agencies around the metro are or have already transitioned to a full- <br />62 time model as well as investing significantly in their staffing model. Currently, the Roseville <br />63 Fire Department is falling behind our peers when we assess calls per on-duty firefighter <br />64 and emergency calls per on-duty staffed response unit. As an example, in 2023, the <br />65 Roseville Fire Department averaged 2302 emergency calls per staffed response unit. This <br />66 number was higher than six other peer agencies: Maplewood (1993 calls), Richfield (1663 <br />67 calls), Eagan (1661 calls), Edina (1444 calls), Oakdale (1262 calls), and South Metro (1553 <br />68 calls). In 2018, utilizing call volume and staffed number of units (2), Roseville Fire averaged <br />69 2,484 calls per staffed unit. We are currently closer to our 2018 existence than our 2023 <br />70 peers as it pertains to calls per staffed unit. <br />71 <br />72 One of the most significant areas of concern with available staffing and response is <br />73 emergency call overlap. In 2023, we experienced 210 instances in which the fire <br />74 department was unable to provide adequate resources for the emergency call requested. <br />75 Of our 6,907 total calls for service, nearly 25% (1,575 calls) were multi-unit responses (an <br />76 example would be a fire alarm which requires an engine and a medic response vehicle, a <br />77 car accident which requires the same, or a critical EMS call which requires two medic <br />78 response vehicles), requiring at least two companies to respond to mitigate the emergency. <br />79 In 2023, over 58% of our total call volume were second, third, fourth, and even fifth <br />80 overlapping calls (4,034 emergency calls that were overlapping). A total of 2,873 calls were <br />81 single emergency calls without overlap of another emergency call. As a reminder, even one <br />82 emergency call may include two or even all three of our on-duty resources, so a second or <br />83 third overlapping call may completely deplete available response capability in the <br />84 community. <br />Page 2 of 3 <br />Qbhf!42!pg!257 <br /> <br />