By Colleen Sparks
The Arizona Republic
AHWATUEE FOOTHILLS, Ariz. — The fastest Fire Department vehicle arrives at the scene of an Ahwatukee Foothills emergency, on average, within five minutes or less 61 percent of the time. National standards recommend they meet that speed 90 percent of the time.
But Ahwatukee’s isn’t the only Southeast Valley fire department falling short of national standards. Mesa met its goal 64 percent of the time, and Chandler met its goal 42 percent of the time.
Phoenix anticipates another fire station that will likely open in Ahwatukee in 2010 will help improve response times.
“We keep working on it,” said Bob Barr, fire protection engineer for the Phoenix Fire Department. “We’re so busy in Phoenix.”
In Ahwatukee, the ladder truck at Station No. 43 on Chandler Boulevard near 40th Street met the five-minute-or-less response mark 61 percent of the time while an engine truck at Station No. 46 on Marketplace Way near Chandler Boulevard responded that quickly 41 percent of the time in 2006, Barr said.
As in other parts of the Southeast Valley, Ahwatukee Foothills’ fast growth and geographically spread-out homes can make it difficult to fight fires and other emergencies.
But the Phoenix Fire Department’s emergency response times in Ahwatukee have improved in recent years and are expected to speed up even more once another fire station is built.
The department plans to use bond money to build a fire station on the so-called South Mountain 620 property, which abuts South Mountain between 19th and 27th avenues. Construction will likely start in 2008 and it would be up and running by early 2010, Barr said.
“Every time we add a station, we should be improving response times or improving our response and shortening our response times to handle the volume of calls that seems to be increasing over time,” Barr said.
National standards recommend fire departments get to emergencies in five minutes or less if you include the time it takes firefighters to get dressed and get in their vehicles, as Phoenix does.
Phoenix measures its response time from when the call comes into the fire station, Barr said.
Response times in Ahwatukee have improved since Station 43 opened on Chandler Boulevard near 40th Street in 2003. Average response times for a ladder truck shrunk from 6 minutes, 30 seconds to 4 minutes, 40 seconds after it opened. And the numbers have continued to improve.
The engine out of Station 46 met the 5-minute response goal 41 percent of the time in 2006, compared with 32 percent in 2005, Barr said.
The average time that any Ahwatukee fire vehicle responded to emergencies was 5 minutes, 54 seconds in fiscal year 2006-07, Barr said.
“They’re better than what they historically have been in Ahwatukee,” said Doug Cole, chairman of the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee. “There always can be improvement.”
Phoenix Councilman Greg Stanton, who represents Ahwatukee, said there is always room for improvement.
“You always have to do self-analysis. You always have to improve yourself,” he said.
But he believes Phoenix has an excellent department.
“If you were to talk to people around the country, Phoenix Fire Department is looked at as one of the premier, if not the premier, fire department in the country,” he said."Phoenix has the best fire department in the country, bar none, if you look at the people on the force, quality of training.”
Geographic location is likely one of the biggest factors in how long it takes an emergency vehicle to respond to someone’s home.
It can take firetrucks up to eight minutes to reach homes located at the end of Pecos Road near Chandler Boulevard because the closest station, at 15402 S. Marketplace Way near Chandler Boulevard, is about 4.5 miles away and traffic and school zones can affect travel time, Barr said.
Copyright 2007, The Arizona Republic