That the consultant hired by the two Cities to create a Regional Fire Authority can't get their calculator to work right, on the eve of the election, might be laughable if the consequences weren't quite so serious. We are already in the process of voting on a proposition that was conceptually flawed from the beginning and now is apparently computationally flawed as well.
The fire benefit charge is √ of total square feet x (18)* x (category factor) x (response factor) x (risk factor) x (fire flow factor) x (discount) Among other effects, comparing the square roots of numbers instead of the numbers themselves reduces the differences. Take the numbers 9 and 16. 16 is 3/4 again as big as 9 [16/9 = 1.78]. The square roots of 9 and 16 are 3 and 4 respectively. 4 is only 1/3 bigger than 3 [4/3 = 1.33). I think we all understand the square root function well enough. What we don't understand is what its doing as part of a fire benefit charge formula. How does its contribution map out, i.e., relate, to the real world?
But these are details in the shadow of an overarching flaw. While the charge for maintaining the ability to respond and provide services is based on the resources needed to put out a fire, less than 4% of calls to the fire house are for fires. They are overwhelmingly for medical assistance and other non-fire related events. These data were put together by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Fire_Protection_Association
Same for dispatching the police. Analyzing publicly available 911 data between January 2019 and November 2021 from police departments in nine cities—including Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, and Seattle—it was found that, in most of these cities, fewer than 3% of calls related to situations involving violent crime. These data are from https://www.vera.org/news/most-911-calls-have-nothing-to-do-with-crime-why-are-we-still-sending-police
It's not just the waste of stockpiling and using inappropriate equipment and personnel for the public's needs, it's the even more serious problem of not having enough of the appropriate equipment or personnel on hand to fix the problems that people are actually having. Too many fire trucks and firefighters. Not enough rescue vehicles, medics, nurses or doctors in the field.
I have a proposal. Let's dispatch the right kind of vehicle and the right kind of people to handle emergencies. And let's not keep them all at a central location like the fire house. Let's deploy them around the city. At the beginning of each shift, we'll pre-distribute them and the appropriate aid-givers around the city (area served) to minimize their collective travel time to all locations. That means you might see them parked along the street somewhere. There could be differential needs by area, e.g., high fire vs high medical, certain kinds of medical, etc. This will require some sophisticated computer analysis up front to create a plan. After that, just follow the plan and update it periodically.
What we really want is quality emergency medical response when we need it, and a fully-staffed and equipped fire department on the very rare occasions when we need them. This measure does nothing to enhance either of these. Big new fees. No new service. Vote NO. Keep your fire service local.
waltjorgensen@comcast.net
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