The Fresno Bee
Copyright 2007 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
FRESNO, Calif. — “Fire!”
Is there any call that generates more terror than this primal scream? Absolutely not. But you’d never know it by the priority given to fire protection in Fresno County.
An analysis by The Bee reveals that slow response times from the four largest fire departments in the county are putting people and property in peril. Most of us take comfort in the ability of our local fire department to take care of us in case of fire. But it’s clear some residents of Fresno County are enjoying a false sense of security.
The Bee’s report on Sunday revealed that none of the four largest fire departments are meeting the national standard of a five-minute response time 90% of the time.
They are the Clovis Fire Department, which responds within five minutes on 86% of building fires; the Fresno Fire Department, which hits the target 65% of the time; the North Central Fire Protection District, which responds on time in 40% of building fires. The most egregious of the four is the Fresno County Fire Protection District, which arrives on time in just 16% of building fires. That performance is inexcusable.
Fires that had late responses from those four departments caused an estimated $25 million in damage. Four people were killed, and 40 others were injured.
Fire protection is a basic service that must be provided at a high level. Unfortunately, our leaders and we as citizens have not made funding fire protection a high priority. It must be adequately funded, even if it means a tax increase in some jurisdictions.
And it’s time for local fire agencies to operate more efficiently by consolidating operations where it makes sense. Then they will have credibility when they ask the public to pay more through higher taxes.
The refrain from the politicians is that people won’t pay more taxes for better service. Not so fast. County residents have recently passed a transportation tax, library tax and zoo tax. They were willing to pay more because they thought it was a good investment.
Make a case for a fire tax and the voters will respond. What better investment could there be?
Residents who live in areas with poor fire service may not realize that they are already paying more every year for fire insurance than their cross-town neighbors. Insurers use fire department rankings from the Insurance Services Office to help set homeowner rates. Communities that have improved their ratings have seen decreases in home insurance premiums of 40% and more, studies have found.
Cost is part of the equation, of course, but we should not assume for a minute that fire department response time is just about seared sofas and charred microwaves. This is about public safety.
Fresno County Supervisor Susan Anderson said the obvious: “I’d rather pay taxes and have lives and property saved.”
Fire departments and districts are funded through a complex system of jurisdictions. The elected officials responsible for each agency and every firehouse that does not meet the national standard need to embrace two concepts that politicians like to dodge: Public safety consolidation and increased taxes.
Only then can they say they made their constituents safer.