Blog of Aaron J.: staffing

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What is a company?

NFPA 1710 provides guidelines on the number of personnel required to staff a fire department. It further requires that these personnel be “organized into company units”. When we have our personnel, we then must organize them. But what is a “company unit”?

I first learned of a fire company from the IFSTA Essentials of Firefighter, 4th edition. This basic fire academy curriculum defined a fire company as “the standard operating unit of a fire department...a group of firefighters assigned to a particular piece of apparatus or to a particular station. A company consists of a company officer, a driver/operator, and one or more firefighters.”

Essentials provides a great general definition. However, NFPA 1710, more clearly defines what a fire company is. A company is a group of fire department members who:

Are under direct supervision of an officer
Are trained and equipped to perform assigned tasks
Operate with one piece of fire apparatus, or multiple apparatus assigned and dispatched together, and under control of a single fire officer
Arrive at the incident scene on fire apparatus

These fire companies must be organized and identified. Companies are organized by task and are commonly identified as:

Engine company
Ladder company
Rescue company
Squad company
Multi-functional company

Chapter 5 of NFPA 1710 defines the makeup of each of these company types. This section also requires that “each company shall be lead by an officer”.

Engine Companies. Responsible to pump and deliver water, and perform basic firefighter functions. Staffed with a minimum of four on-duty personnel. More personnel may be required based on call volume or high hazard target areas, up to six on-duty personnel.

Ladder Companies. Responsible for forcible entry, ventilation, search and rescue, overhaul and salvage, and a variety of other truck work. Staffed with a minimum of four on-duty personnel. More personnel may be required based on call volume or high hazard target areas, up to six on-duty personnel.

Other Companies. Provide specialized equipment and apparatus to assist engine and ladder companies. These are provided and staffed in accordance with the risk/hazard analysis as required by the AHJ and department SOP’s.

Related Posts:

Career, Combination, or Volunteer?

NFPA 1710, Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments

NFPA 1720, Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Volunteer Fire Departments

These standards outline minimum staffing requirements for fire departments. But which one should your department follow? Is your department career, combination, or volunteer? For this answer we must look in the definition section of NFPA 1720. Here we see the magic number, 85%.

If the department personnel is comprised of 85% or more volunteer members then the department is classified as volunteer. Fire departments composed of less than 85% majority of either volunteers or career personnel is classified as a combination department. Volunteer and combination department must comply with the staffing and organization requirements of NFPA 1720. Departments having greater than 85% career personnel must comply with the staffing and organizational requirements of NFPA 1710.

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How many firefighters do you need?

The purpose of NFPA 1710 is to provide minimum criteria to address “the effectiveness and efficiency of career” fire department personnel and operations. This standard outlines seven objectives that must be met. Fire department staffing levels should be based on the ability to meet these objectives and to deploy firefighting resources as outlined in the standard. This task analysis should account for, life hazards to the public, safety of the firefighters, property loss potential, types of occupancies and properties to be protected, and fireground tactics, apparatus, and expected results.

Sunset with burning building by Petteri Sulonen

NFPA 1710 defines the following types of incidents and deployment criteria.

Single-family dwelling, defined as 2,000sq.ft., two-story, single family dwelling (no basement, no exposures)
Strip shopping center, defined as an open-air shopping area of 13,000sq.ft. - 196,000sq.ft.
Apartments, defined as a 1,200sq.ft. unit inside three-story, garden-style building
High-rise buildings, defined as structures with the highest floor greater than 75’ above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access.

Minimum staffing for full alarm assignments to single-family dwelling fires require a total of fourteen personnel, divided as follows:

(1) individual dedicated to incident command
(1) personnel to establish and maintain water supply
(4) personnel to operate handlines, (2) per line, minimum of two handlines required
(2) handline support members, (1) per attack and backup line
(2) personnel assigned to victim search and rescue team
(2) personnel to raise ground ladders and assist with ventilation
(2) personnel assigned to the initial rapid intervention crew (IRIC)

Minimum staffing for full alarm assignment to an open-air strip shopping center fire incident requires a total of twenty-seven personnel, divided as follows:

(2) personnel assigned to incident command
(2) personnel to establish and maintain water supply, (1) per supply, minimum two required
(6) personnel to operate handlines, (2) per line, minimum of three handlines required
(3) handline support members, (1) per attack, backup, exposure line
(4) personnel assigned to victim search and rescue, (2) teams of two personnel
(4) personnel to raise ground ladders and assist with ventilation, (2) teams of two personnel
(4) personnel assigned to RIC, (1) officer (3) members
(2) personnel to provide initial medical care

Minimum staffing for full alarm assignment to an apartment fire incident requires a total of twenty-seven personnel, divided as follows:

(2) personnel assigned to incident command
(2) personnel to establish and maintain water supply, (1) per supply, minimum two required
(6) personnel to operate handlines, (2) per line, minimum of three handlines required
(3) handline support members, (1) per attack, backup, exposure line
(4) personnel assigned to victim search and rescue, (2) teams of two personnel
(4) personnel to raise ground ladders and assist with ventilation, (2) teams of two personnel
(4) personnel assigned to RIC, (1) officer (3) members
(2) personnel to provide initial medical care

Minimum staffing for full alarm assignment to a high-rise fire incident requires a total of forty-one personnel, divided as follows:

(2) personnel assigned to incident command, (1) officer with (1) aid
(2) personnel assigned incident command at fire floor, (1) officer with (1) aid
(1) incident safety officer
(1) officer, at interior staging area two floors below fire floor
(1) officer, building lobby operations
(1) officer, external base operations
(1) individual assigned to establish and maintain water supply to the standpipe system
(1) individual assigned to monitor and maintain building fire pump operations
(4) personnel to operate handlines, (2) per line, minimum of two handlines required at the fire floor
(2) personnel to operate handline, (2) per line, minimum of one handline required at floor above fire floor
(4) personnel assigned to RIC
(4) personnel assigned to victim search and rescue, (2) teams of two personnel
(4) personnel assigned to evacuation management, (2) teams of two personnel
(1) individual to manage and monitor elevator operations
(2) personnel assigned to firefighter rehab, (1) ALS trained
(4) personnel assigned to vertical ventilation, (1) officer (3) members
(2) personnel for equipment transport
(4) emergency medical personnel, (2) teams of two personnel

These numbers represent only the minimum requirements for the initial alarm. As the incident escalates, it is understood that additional personnel and apparatus may be needed.

To provide effective and efficient staffing levels, a thorough knowledge of the community must be had. This is why the conduct and maintenance of a community risk assessment is critical to, not just fire prevention, fire department operations as a whole.

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7 Response Objectives for Fire Departments

Fire on a rainy day, by Canadian Pacific

The purpose of NFPA 1710 is to provide minimum criteria to address “the effectiveness and efficiency of career” fire department personnel and operations. This standard outlines seven objectives that fire departments must meet. Stations, staffing, and systems, of the department should be organized appropriately and work together to meet these objectives.

Alarm handling time.
Turnout time.
First unit on-scene time.
Time to full alarm assignment deployment.
Travel to full alarm assignment deployment at high-rise incidents.
Time for AED on-scene.
Time to arrival of ALS unit.

Alarm handling time. At least ninety-five percent of alarms must be answered within 15 seconds, and no more than 40 seconds for ninety-nine percent of alarms. Alarm answering time is the length of time from the alarm being received at the communications center to the time that it is acknowledged.

Turnout time. Eighty seconds for fire and special operations, and sixty seconds for EMS. Turnout time is the time between when the fire station receives an alarm and units go ‘en-route’, begin traveling to the scene.

First unit on-scene time. The first engine shall arrive at a fire scene within 4 minutes.

Time to full alarm assignment deployment. A full alarm assignment is to be deployed on the fire scene within 8 minutes.

Time to full alarm assignment at high-rise incidents. A full alarm assignment is to be deployed on a high-rise fire scene within 10 minutes (610 seconds).

Time for AED on-scene. A first responder with AED (automatic external defibrillator) shall be on-scene at any emergency medical incident within 4 minutes.

Time to arrival of ALS unit. For departments that provide advanced life support (ALS) services, an ALS unit is to be on-scene at all emergency medical incidents within 8 minutes.

Additional Resources

Building a Fire Prevention Organization: Introduction to NFPA 1730

Effective June 15, 2015, the inaugural edition of NFPA 1730, Standard on Organization and Deployment of Fire Prevention Inspection and Code Enforcement, Plan Review, Investigation, and Public Education Operations, was published. This standard serves as a manual for the establishing, organizing, and managing the fire prevention functions of a community, fire department, or other organization.

The stated purpose of NFPA 1730 "is to specify the minimum criteria addressing the effectiveness and the efficiency" of a fire prevention organization. This document outlines:

Organization, structure, and administration
Community risk assessment
Common fire prevention activities

Existing occupancies
Plan review
Investigations
Public education

NFPA 1730 bases the practices and tasks required of a fire prevention organization on the conduct of a community risk assessment (CRA). A completed CRA will show what risks exist in the community. The data gathered from the CRA will identifybe implemented into the community risk reduction (CRR) plan. The CRR outlines programs and activities required to reduce or eliminate risk and ensure compliance.

The CRA and programs required in the CRR plan will determine the amount of personnel and resources that a fire prevention organization will need. NFPA 1730 provides a 5-step process for determining staffing needs. This process is an invaluable tool for departments to use in the justification of funds for personnel.

Due to the incredible value of this standard, we have created an NFPA 1730 resource page. This page contains information, blog posts, links, articles, and other resources to better enable individuals to apply the standard.

nfpa1730.info

Fire Prevention Organization [PODCAST]

A recent survey has shown that the biggest challenges faced by fire prevention organizations is budget and personnel retention. More specifically, the lack of money to hire, train, and retain personnel needed to carry out fire prevention functions. NFPA 1730, provides a 5 step system to determine minimum staffing levels needed for these functions and fire prevention services.

Click to listen --> Fire Prevention Organization and Staffing by The Code Coach |

Resources:

How to Prove You Need More Money and More People

A recent survey has shown that the biggest challenges faced by fire prevention organizations is budget and personnel retention. Money and people. More specifically, it would seem, lack of money to hire, train, and retain personnel needed to carry out fire prevention functions.

NFPA 1730, Standard on Organization and Deployment of Fire Prevention Inspection and Code Enforcement, Plan Review, Investigation, and Public Education Operations, is a new standard that provides a method to determine, and justify, personnel and staffing needs. The stated purpose of the standard is "to specify the minimum criteria addressing the effectiveness and efficiency of the fire prevention organization". This standard outlines basic fire prevention functions, and how to determine services that should be offered. Annex C, of NFPA 1730, provides a 5 step system to determine minimum staffing levels needed for these functions and fire prevention services.

Step 1: Outline all services provided by the fire prevention organization.

Start the staff needs analysis process by listing all services provided, functions performed, and activities conducted. This should be an exhaustive and comprehensive list. The list should include all activities, no matter how many times they are performed or how much time they take.

Step 2: Determine time demand for each task.

Determine the amount of time it takes to complete each task, function, and activity listed in step 1, above. This should include all components such as, preparation time, scheduling, research, conducting the activity, report writing, and any follow-up. You will need to determine the time each of these take on an annual basis.

Step 3: Determine total personnel hours required to complete activities.

Add up the total amount of hours required for all tasks and activities. If your organization has many different tasks, programs, and functions, these can be divided into groups to simplify, or further analyze the total hours required.

Step 4: Calculate personnel total availability.

This formula will determine the amount of hours that each employee will have available. This must account for holidays, vacation, sick, training, and other times that the employee will not be available for work.

Step 5: Calculate total number of personnel required to perform tasks.

To determine the total amount of full-time employees that are needed to perform all fire prevention functions and tasks, divide the total task hours by the total available work hours.

Total task hours / total available work hours = total personnel required

Fractional values can be rounded up or down. If the number is rounded up it can provide reserve capacity and provide some ‘cushion’. If the number is rounded down, this could result in overtime or increased workload for personnel.

For an example of what this completed process and spreadsheet looks like, click on the image below: