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Orono Fire Needs Assessment <br />5 | Page <br /> <br />1.2 Facilities, Apparatus and Equipment <br />There are many additions and changes to the facilities and equipment that need to happen so <br />that the department can meet current and future needs. As we build the Orono Fire <br />Department, we want it to be a model fire department for the area, that follows best practices, <br />state and national standards. Staff recommends that the Orono Fire Department continue with <br />the two-station model. This model requires a front out rescue pumper at each station and one <br />reserve rescue pumper. The front out rescue pumper should be less than 15 years old and the <br />reserve less than 25 per NFPA 19013. We should have a ladder truck at the central/main station <br />and a combination brush/medical response utility at each station. A tanker/tender at each <br />station is a requirement due to a large response area where there is no municipal water supply <br />within the City of Orono. One of these tanker/tenders could be shared use with the Orono <br />Public Works Department. The department should have two fire boats. One needs to be <br />docked on Lake Minnetonka for the summer and the other available to respond to smaller <br />bodies of water, such as Long Lake. A fire/medical response 6x6 or UTV is required to respond <br />to areas where our brush/medical utility isn’t able to respond i.e., trails, wooded areas, <br />marshes. Staff recommends that both 20-year-old engines be replaced with new rescue <br />pumpers or used if they meet our specifications. A ladder truck was purchased by Orono and <br />needs to be equipped and refurbished, which is currently in process. Staff recommends 2 new <br />combination brush/medical utility trucks be purchased, one for each station. Staff recommends <br />that a facilities study be commissioned. This facilities study can review both fire stations and <br />recommend the imminent maintenance and upgrades to the latest standards. Both fire <br />stations are at or over the 20-year mark and in need of multiple updates and maintenance. <br />1.3 Staffing <br />The greatest resource of the fire department is a well-trained and dedicated firefighter. The <br />Orono Fire Department has a good call volume and has experienced an increase in call volume <br />over the last few years. Recruiting and retaining POC firefighters has become increasingly <br />difficult. This mirrors state, regional and national trends. Fire service analysts agree that the <br />reason for this difficulty is due to demographics, culture, as well as the increased training and <br />response demands on a firefighter. The Department could use a phased in approach of 4 Paid- <br />On-Call (POC) or parti-time firefighters for a daytime duty crew. This would satisfy the issue of <br />daytime response as we move towards our near-term goal of a full-time fire inspector and <br />firefighter tech/admin. Both of these positions would respond to day time calls. The Duty Crew <br />staffing model could look like the following: 4 duty crew firefighters would handle the majority <br />of the calls for service during the week from 0600 – 1800 hours. 45% of our calls for the last 9 <br />years occurred between 0600 – 1800 hours during the week even though this only accounts for <br /> <br />3 NFPA 1901 Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus; NFPA