AUBURN — Fire officials have started to tackle some of the easier recommendations from a department audit performed last fall, interim fire Chief Geoff Low told city councilors Thursday night.
“The rest of that stuff is actually a question that goes back to you guys,” Low said. “Now that we have the report, what do you want me to do with it? There are really a lot of good things in here. So beyond what I can grab easily, it needs to be steered by you.”
The audit, performed by Matrix Consulting Group in October, said the department is a good match for the city, and additional staff and new fire stations are not needed today.
But the study also said the city could work to reduce response times to the rural area, particularly in the southern part near Auburn’s Maine Turnpike interchange and southern business park developments.
The report was released to city councilors and the public in February.
Robert Finn, senior manager for the Matrix Consulting Group, ran through a list of recommendations to streamline the department Thursday for councilors at a special workshop meeting.
The audit suggested training with nearby fire departments, especially Lewiston. Auburn has mutual response agreements with Lewiston and other neighboring fire departments, and it would help everyone if they trained together regularly, he said.
He also recommended changing the way fire response is tracked. Dispatchers currently give reports that measure response time in minutes, not seconds.
“So your firefighters know they responded in two minutes, but they don’t know if they responded in two minutes and one second or two minutes and 59 seconds,” Finn said. “That 59 seconds can mean a big difference.”
Low said he’s already talked with Lewiston’s Fire Department and Lewiston-Auburn 911 center to see if he can get more accurate response reports.
Interim City Manager Don Gerrish said the staff will create an action plan based on the report for councilors to review.
“Now it’s staff’s job to come back with a blueprint to take this and move forward,” Gerrish said. “That will take short-term decisions, long-term decisions and decisions that will have to be done through negotiation with the firefighters union.”
One recommendation is to change the department’s shift schedule. Firefighters currently work a 24-hour shift followed by 72 hours off. That gives them a typical work week of 42 hours per pay period.
The report recommends changing to a 24-hour-on, 48-hour-off rotation. That would give firefighters a 56-hour pay period. Additional time would be reduced by giving each firefighter four additional personal days off each year.
According to the report, it would let the department increase overall staffing per shift without increasing overtime.
The audit also recommends the department adopt a formal policy for dealing with the press and the public, strengthen its website, publish an annual report to the public and seek department accreditation through a national group.
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