Bedford Village Firehouse Study - Matrix

Fire Station Study

BEDFORD VILLAGE FIRE DISTRICT, NEW YORK

201 San Antonio Circle, Suite 148

Mountain View, CA 94040 (650) 858-0507

www.matrixcg.net

April 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

2. DESCRIPTIVE PROFILE OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT 3

3. EXISTING STATION CONDITION ASSESSMENT 11

4. ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT SERVICE LEVELS 18

5. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE LOCATIONS 21

BEDFORD VILLAGE FIRE DISTRICT, NEW YORK Final Report of the Fire Station Study

Matrix Consulting Group Page 1

1. INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Bedford Village Fire District of New York retained the Matrix Consulting

Group to conduct a Fire Facility Study of the Bedford Volunteer Fire Department. The

study was conducted in accordance with the proposal developed for the District. The

scope of services for this study include the following:

An assessment of the current fire station location.

Evaluation of the condition of the existing fire station.

Evaluation of station location options.

Evaluation of the projected service levels from a new fire station location.

Evaluation of BVFD member attitudes related to the existing station and a new station.

The study was conducted by the Matrix Consulting Group using a team of public

management and fire/EMS specialists. A detailed and inclusive approach was used in

conducting the study and in developing our analyses and recommendations. Specific

elements of the study approach included the following:

Interviews with the Fire Board of Commissioners, line officers in the Department as well as general membership representatives.

Tours of the service area and current station to understand the risks in the

community and the road network. Extensive data collection focused on understanding operations and services.

This included analysis of the emergency services, apparatus response patterns, and the geo-coding of emergency incidents as a precursor to developing response time predictions from the proposed station location.

During the course of the study, the Matrix Consulting Group reviewed factual

information, regarding the Department with the Board of Fire Commissioners. The



overall focus of Matrix Consulting Groups approach has been to maximize the

opportunities for input into the process, and to ensure that major issues were identified

to enhance the likelihood that recommendations were practical and will be implemented.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This section summarizes the key findings and recommendations made by the

project team. The table below provides a discussion of each of the project teams

finding and recommendations:

Finding/Recommendation

There were several areas of external cracking in the masonry of the current station. The Department should have the original structural engineer reexamine the structure to ensure the repairs completed are adequately supporting the bay floor.

The projected population growth and call volume indicate that a single station can continue to meet the needs of the Fire District. Due to the condition of the current station and lack of site suitability to improve the current location, the BVFD should continue to move forward with the plans to replace the current fire station and construct a fire station on the land currently owned by the District and planned for the future station.



2. DESCRIPTIVE PROFILE OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT

This chapter in the Fire Station Study for the Bedford Village Fire District includes

information regarding the current organization and operation of the Bedford Volunteer

Fire Department (BVFD), which served as the context of our study. The data and

information were developed from interviews of BVFD board members, management,

and volunteers of the Bedford Volunteer Fire Department, review of available

documents and records, as well as access to computerized records and data sets. This

chapter is organized as follows:

Organization and Staffing Department Budget Operations Volunteer Fire Department Workloads and Response Times The following section provides a general overview of the Bedford Volunteer Fire

Department, including its organization and volunteer staffing.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE BEDFORD VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT The Bedford Volunteer Fire Department provides response to fires, medical

emergencies, hazardous materials incidents, natural and man-made disasters, mutual

aid assistance to neighboring departments and related emergencies in an effort to

reduce life and property loss. The functions are performed with a volunteer staff that

responds to the station when alerted to a request for service.

The Department is governed by a board of five (5) publicly elected Commissioners

who approve the operating budget, oversee the Department Finances and Department

operations.



The organization chart below shows the current organizational structure of the

Bedford Volunteer Fire Department:

Organizational Chart

Bedford Volunteer Fire Department

The next section provides information on the BVFDs current budgeted

expenditures.

Bedford Village Fire District Board of Commissioners

Chief

1st Assistant Chief

2nd Assistant Chief

Captain Lieutenant

Foreman E-108

Engineer

Crew

Foreman E-109

Engineer

Crew

Foreman E-110

Engineer

Crew

Foreman MA-7

Engineer

Crew

Forman R-44

Engineer

Crew

Foreman 52-B1

Engineer

Crew



2. DISTRICT BUDGET

The Bedford Volunteer Fire Department operations are funded through taxes

collected by the Fire District. The table below shows the BVFD budgets for FY 2012

FY 2014:

Bedford Village Fire District Budget 2012 2015

Adopted 2012

Adopted 2013

Adopted 2014

Proposed 2015

Personal Services $81,952 $85,141 $87,695 $90,326

Contractual

Building Capital Outlay $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000

Office Supplies/Web Page $14,000 $21,300 $22,000 $22,000

Uniforms & Turnout Gear $40,000 $35,000 $35,000 $35,000

Drills, Parades, Inspection $14,280 $14,000 $16,000 $16,000

Travel $1,000 $1,000 $1,500 $1,500

Association Dues $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500

Elections & Legal Notices $600 $500 $500 $500

Insurance: Bld/Auto/Prop $63,225 $65,000 $71,000 $71,000

Legal & Audit $27,540 $27,000 $25,000 $25,000

Building & Grounds $90,000 $57,900 $57,900 $65,000

Fire Apparatus & Equip. Repairs $50,000 $55,000 $55,000 $55,000

Gas & Diesel Fuel $18,000 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000

Fire Alarm System $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $7,000

Electricity $9,500 $9,500 $9,500 $9,500

Training $8,500 $9,625 $12,980 $12,980

Telephone $6,000 $6,300 $6,300 $6,600

Physical Exams $9,000 $9,000 $9,000 $9,000

Physical Fitness Training $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 $15,000

Miscellaneous $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000

Total Contractual $385,145 $364,625 $375,180 $385,580

Equipment $65,000 $70,000 $70,000 $72,500

Service Awards Program $40,000 $45,000 $45,000 $45,000

FICA - MEDICARE $6,331 $6,514 $6,707 $6,910

Salary/Benefits $72,800 $75,560 $77,560 $80,560

MCTMT $285 $0 $0 $0

Fund Transfers

Capital Reserve $200,000 $225,000 $225,000 $225,000

Land Acquisition & Improvement $75,000 $50,000 $50,000 $50,000

Repair Reserve Fund -

Budget Total $926,513 $921,840 $937,142.00 $955,876



As shown, the FY 2015 proposed budget totals $955,876. This is approximately

1.3% above the 2012 budget, and 1.2% above the adopted 2014 budget.

3. OPERATIONS The Bedford Volunteer Fire Department currently operates from one fire station,

located within the Town of Bedford, in the hamlet of Bedford Village. The District has

also purchased a site for proposed construction of a new fire station.

The following table shows the locations of the current Bedford Volunteer Fire

Station and the address of the land purchased for the development of a new fire station:

Bedford Volunteer Fire Department

Facility Street Address City

Station 1 34 Village Green Bedford, NY

Proposed 576 582 Old Post Road Bedford, NY

The following table illustrates the apparatus in use by the Bedford Volunteer Fire

Department. All the apparatus and vehicles, except the Chiefs cars, are located at the

existing fire station at 34 Village Green:

Bedford Volunteer Fire Department Vehicles and Apparatus

Type Year Manufacturer Model Expected

Replacement Year

Chiefs Car 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe 2011 Chiefs Car 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe 2017 Chiefs Car 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe 2019 Utility Vehicle 2007 Chevrolet Silverado 2017

Ambulance 2006 Ford/PL Custom E-450 Type III 2015

Brush Truck 1984 GMC Mini-Pumper -

Rescue Truck 2013 Gowans Knight Rescue Truck 2038

Pumper 2000 Mack Class A Pumper 2025

Pumper 2004 Seagrave Class A Pumper 2017

Pumper 1987 Seagrave Class A Pumper -

Training Aid 2007 Scotty Trailer 2017

4. FIRE DEPARTMENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE



The Bedford Volunteer Fire Department is an all hazard response department.

The Department responds to calls for service from a single station and serves as an

EMS transport department in the Bedford Village Fire District. The Department is part of

the Battalion 16 coverage area for mutual aid in the Westchester County Fire Mutual Aid

Plan.

The following calls for service (CFS) data was obtained from the department

records management system, and shows the calls for service responded to by BVFD

during the 2013 calendar year.

The following table shows the emergency calls by apparatus type for BFD during

2013:

Calls by Type 2013 & 2014

Incident Type 2013 2014

AUTOMATIC ALARM 186 171

ALS MEDICAL 153 127

BLS MEDICAL 32 39

BRUSH FIRE 6 5

HAZARDOUS CONDITION 26 15

INVESTIGATION 27 29

MUTUAL AID 70 58

MOTOR VEHILCE ACCIDENT 38 52

MOTOR VEHICLE FIRE 4 1

NOTIFICATION 1 1

RESCUE 1 0

SERVICE 15 11

STAND-BY 0 1

STRUCTURE FIRE 18 9

Total 577 519

As shown above, the Bedford Volunteer Fire Department responded to a total of

577 incidents in 2013 and 519 incidents in 2014. The majority were Automatic Alarm

and Emergency Medical calls, which each accounted for approximately 32% of calls for

service. The data indicates that BVFD typically responds to approximately 1.5 calls for



service on average per day. It is important to note that several calls will require more

than one apparatus response to handle the emergency nature of the call.

The following table shows the calls responded to by each piece of apparatus in

2013 and 2014:

Response by Apparatus-2013 & 2014

Unit 2013 2014

2041 152 149

2042 249 246

2043 129 119

2044 5 21

2045 7 6

52-B1 261 260

E108 40 23

E109 268 211

E110 59 49

MA7 8 1

R44 95 90

U140 29 23

Total 1,302 1,198

As shown, over the two year period unit 52-B1 was the busiest apparatus

responding to a total of 521 incidents.

The table on the following page shows the calls by hour of day and day of week

in 2013 for the Bedford Volunteer Fire Department:



Calls by Hour/Day 2013

Hour Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Total

0 1 1 2

1 1 2 8

1

1 1 2

1 2 7

2

1 1

3 4 3 12

3 1 2

1 3

2 9

4 1 1

1 2

1 6

5 2 5 1 2 2

12

6 1 2

2 1 2 8

7 1 7 2 8 2 2 1 23

8 1 4 5 4 2 4 4 24

9 2 4 2 3 6 4 2 23

10 6 5 4 4 2 3 3 27

11 6 5 11 4 3 5 1 35

12 3 3 3 4 5 5 3 26

13 3 4 5 6 3 6 3 30

14 8 4 5 6 3 6 3 35

15 3 3 13 8 6 4 4 41

16 12 5 2 6 9 2 9 45

17 5 6 4 5 8 4 5 37

18 1 3 5 5 6 1 4 25

19 1

5 3 5 7 6 27

20 3

6 3 2 3 4 21

21 1 3 1 4 3 4 5 21

22 1 1 1 2

1 3 9

23 2

2

1 2 1 8

Total 65 70 81 81 79 70 73 519

As shown above, in terms of calls for service, the Bedford Volunteer Fire

Department is busiest on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and slowest on Sunday.

The hour between of 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. is the busiest hour of the day and the

hours between 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. are the slowest of the day.

The charts, on the following page, show the percentage of calls for service by

hour of day and day of week for the Bedford Volunteer Fire Department:



The call data above, supports the view that the BVFD should design a fire station

facility that is capable of providing 24/7/365 emergency service delivery to the

community. It is worth constructing a station that has appropriate facilities to keep

personnel in the fire station, such a fitness area to ensure fitness standards can be met

without the District paying for a gym membership that takes personnel outside the

District to maintain fitness standards.

65 70

81 81 79

70 73

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Calls by Day of Week - 2014

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Calls by Hour of Day - 2014



3. EXISTING STATION CONDITION ASSESSMENT

This chapter provides an assessment of the current station used by the Bedford

Volunteer Fire Department. The assessments were the result of site visits to the fire

station and examination of current station conditions. The following table presents a

summary of the condition of the station, with regards to various criteria.

1. SITE ASSESSMENT

The following table illustrates the project teams evaluation of the current site

location where the existing BVFD fire station is located:

Bedford Volunteer Fire Department Station Assessment

Element/Site EXISTING BEDFORD VOLUNTEER STATION

Accessibility to the street (e.g., room to exit, turn, sight lines, etc.)

Excellent access to the downtown area. Limited sight distance exiting the building due to on street parking and short apron.

Accessibility to major run routes N/S and E/W

Generally good, excellent to downtown.

Response impediments (helps/hinders) such as bridges, rail, large facility, road network, etc.

Heavy traffic in the general area of the fire station. No clear lanes of travel for emergency apparatus. Pedestrian traffic walking in front of station causes safety concerns.

Suitability of the lot (size and orientation) would it allow drive through?

New station on existing property would require acquisition of adjacent properties. Not enough room for drive-through bays. Several previous attempts have been made to adapt the present facility to meet the current Departments needs, however none of the possible solutions were either practical or cost effective due to the presence of wetlands and septic systems.

Suitability of the lot (adjacent uses)

Conflicting use of spaces with post office and library on each side of the facility.



Element/Site EXISTING BEDFORD VOLUNTEER STATION

Nearby risks/service demands

Business district is immediately adjacent to the station. Post office trucks block access to the parking area daily; making parking difficult for responding volunteers.

Overall Site Assessment

The current station site has several issues related to its location. These include ingress and egress issues, parking issues, lot size and stacking of apparatus.

As shown above, while the existing site does provide excellent adjacency to the

Village Green area, there are several drawbacks to the existing location.

2. ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT STATION This station is the sole base of the Department. It serves as the Department

headquarters, board meeting area and houses the following apparatus:

3 pumpers

1 ambulance

1 brush truck

1 rescue truck

The vehicles are stacked in a double bay and often require movement of vehicles

to allow the required apparatus to respond. It is important to note that they physical size

of the bay does not allow all apparatus to be housed inside the existing bays.

(1) Bay Height and Depth:

The current station bays are too small for modern

apparatus. The photograph to the right shows the limited height

above the apparatus. The bay door clearance at 108 requires

any apparatus acquired by the Fire District to be custom ordered



to fit into the vehicle bays, at significant additional cost. There is also limited space

between the apparatus and behind the apparatus, which increases the likelihood of an

accident while backing apparatus into the bays.

(2) Apparatus Floor

The apparatus floor had to have additional

supports added in order to hold the modern

apparatus. Even after this addition, there are concerns

regarding cracks in the bay floor and concrete falling

into the bowling alley, which is used for recreational

use by members of the Department, in the basement.

The photo to the right shows an example of one of

several exterior building cracks observed during our

assessment of the station.

Recommendation: The Department should have the original structural engineer reexamine the structure to ensure the completed repairs are adequately supporting the bay floor. (3) Protective Gear Storage

The protective gear is stored on racks in the

center of the bay, exposing it to diesel particulates each

time the apparatus is started. The location also is

extremely dangerous for responding volunteers, as a

moving apparatus could potentially strike them while

donning their protective equipment. This situation is



depicted in the photograph to the right. The space limitations currently do not allow for

the gear to be relocated.

(4) Ventilation Systems

The current station does not have an adequate ventilation system in place to

remove the diesel exhaust particulates from the building. The meeting, training, and day

room facilities are located above the bay floor and are subjected to diesel fumes when

apparatus are started below. The project team was made aware of the situation

firsthand while conducting interviews upstairs in the station. The current height

limitations noted earlier will not allow a modern ventilation system to be installed in this

location to mitigate the issue.

(5) Restroom and Shower Facilities

The current station lacks appropriate restroom and shower facilities for use by

members of the Department. The ladies restroom is located upstairs, and the mens

restroom, downstairs. A single shower stall has been installed in the mens restroom,

but it does not meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for size and entry.

If a woman member wishes to shower, the only option available is the mens restroom

shower. There are also no locker facilities available to the membership. Without access

to a locker, members have nowhere to store a spare set of clothing. As a result, after a

fire or emergency medical call, despite access to a shower facility, they are likely to

change back into and wear contaminated clothing home to their personal residences.

(6) Accessibility

The current station is a two story structure with all meeting and living quarters

located on the second floor. The board holds its monthly meetings, which are open to



the public, on the second floor. The current station does not have an elevator or

appropriate means for a person with disabilities to access the second floor. The

Department has installed a lift assist chair on the staircase to help those unable to walk

the stairs reach the second floor, but this would not allow someone in wheelchair

access to the location, as there would be no way to bring the wheelchair up with them.

(7) Living/Sleeping Quarters

The station has appropriate social quarters for the members on the second floor,

where there are two separate rooms with good, basic furnishings. The current day room

also serves as the classroom for training activities, but lacks adequate table space for

note-taking, as the dining table is the only area available to write on and is not large

enough to accommodate the average number in attendance.

The kitchen is a commercial quality kitchen and is able to meet the needs of the

membership and functions well during fundraising events when used to cook large

quantities of food.

The station does not have any sleeping quarters. This is problematic, as

members may stay at the station in order to be available for immediate response during

severe weather events such as snow storms and hurricanes. The Department also

opened their doors to residents displaced during Super Storm Sandy and found itself

short on accommodations, these types of events are critical for the Department to

provide adequate support to the District they serve during severe weather events. The

goal of a new facility would be to serve as such a shelter and the design would need to

accommodate these needs.

(8) The Department Membership Generally is Supportive of a New Station



As part of the study, the project team conducted an anonymous online survey of

the membership of the BVFD, to which 50 responses were received. The entire survey

results were provided to the Department however, it is important to note the following:

86% agree that the Department provides high quality fire and EMS services to the community.

55% agree that the current station impacts their ability to meet community

expectations, while 26% disagree and 19% were neutral. 38% agree that the current station is in good condition, while 41% disagree and

21% were neutral. 29% agree that the station has adequate parking, while 64% disagree and 7%

were neutral. 31% agree that the station has adequate bathroom facilities, while 45% disagree

and 24% were neutral. 48% agree that a new station will improve the safety of Department operations,

while 19% disagree and 31% were neutral. 12% agree that the current station has adequate space for hands on training,

while 67% disagree and 21% were neutral. 54% agree that the current station has adequate facilities for classroom training,

while 24% disagree and 22% were neutral. (9) Overall Station Summary

The Fire District has maintained the entire station in good condition and the

Board has continually invested in improvements when needed, such as reinforcing the

bay floor and installing new energy efficient windows. None the less, the station and its

current location are simply too small and wrongly configured to meet the needs of a

modern fire and EMS organization.

The station carries a great deal of history, beginning with the Departments

founding in 1923. It is a prominent historic building located in the Village Green and the



location is an excellent area to allow the Department to interact with the community, but

the building is currently unable to meet the needs of the organization. The site

limitations would make it very difficult for the Department to expand without incurring

considerable land acquisition and construction costs.

As discussed earlier, there were several attempts by the Fire District to examine

alternatives that could be made to the existing station to improve the facility and provide

a place that is safe to operate from and effectively service the Fire District. Each of

these attempts proved to be ineffective in terms of cost or improving how the BVFD can

serve the community.



4. ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT SERVICE LEVELS

This chapter provides the project teams assessment of service levels provided

by current fire station locations and volunteer deployment.

1. THE SERVICE AREA IS MOSTLY A RURAL RESIDENTIAL AREA WITH A FEW COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS.

As stated earlier, the current location of the station provides excellent proximity to

the commercial businesses in the BVFD service area. The Department is able to

provide a timely response to emergency incidents in their response area.

According to the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE), a Fire Department

serving a rural area should be able to respond to 90% of incidents with a travel time of

13 minutes or less, as a baseline performance standard.

The project used GIS mapping to evaluate the predicted responses travel times

for the BVFD from the proposed new station and found that the proposed station

location would be able to serve all areas of the district experiencing calls in 8 minutes

travel time or less, well below the CPSE standard. For a volunteer department such as

BVFD, capturing the dispatch time, response time, arrival time, and clear time will allow

the department to track and report how long it takes to assemble a crew to respond to

calls and how long it takes them to travel to the location once a crew is assembled. This

will ensure they continue to provide rapid response times and can adjust their service

model if response times become longer than the department considers acceptable.



Recommendation: Continue tracking and reporting the turnout and travel times for the Department on Fire and EMS calls in the Department records management system.

2. THE PROJECT TEAM ESTIMATED THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF

DEVELOPMENT ON FIRE DEPARTMENT WORKLOADS. The project team typically uses historic calls for service per capita as a way to

project future fire department calls for service. In 2000, the U.S. Census population for

BVFD service area was 1,724 and in 2010, this population figure grew to 1,834 an

increase of 6.3% over the ten-year period. The table below shows the number of calls

for service the BVFD responded to in 2012 and 2013 and estimates the projected call

volume through the year 2025 based on estimated population, and the ratio of

population to calls for service:

Bedford Village Fire District 2012 to 2025 Calls for Service and Estimated Population

YEAR Pop Incidents Calls Per

Capita

2012 1,857 631 0.339

2013 1,868 586 0.314

2015 1,892 691 0.327

2020 1,915 626 0.327

2025 1,940 634 0.327

Population estimates based on the US Census figures

As shown above, the ratio of calls for service to total population ranged from a

low of 0.314 in 2013 to a high of 0.339 in 2012, this served as the basis for a 0.327 per

capita call volume for the projected years. The projected call volume through 2025

clearly indicates that the BVFD would continue to be able to operate as a volunteer

Department for the foreseeable future. As the population continues to age in the area

served by BVFD there is the potential for calls to increase and a decline in the

availability of personnel to serve as volunteers for the BVFD. This may require a



decision as to the viability of an all volunteer response force or if some paid call staff will

be required to staff emergency apparatus.



5. ANALYSIS OF PROPOSED STATION LOCATION This chapter presents the project teams analysis of the proposed station location

for the BVFD. The primary focus of this chapter is to identify the projected travel times

to Fire and EMS calls from the proposed new station site.

1. CURRENT CALLS FOR SERVICE OCCUR IN A VERY CONCETRATED AREA.

The following map illustrates the call locations for emergency responses in the

BVFD service area. As shown, emergency calls occur in tightly clustered area near the

Bedford Village Green:



2. PROJECTED TRAVEL TIMES SHOW EXCELLENT RESPONSE TRAVEL TIMES TO EMERGENC CALLS.

The next point of analysis was to examine the projected travel times for fire and

EMS apparatus from the projected station location. The first map illustrates projected

travel times for fire apparatus:

As illustrated above, fire apparatus should expect travel times of less than four

(4) minutes to the majority of emergency calls, and within six (6) minutes to the

remaining areas where calls for service are experienced from the new station location.



The next map examines the projected travel times for ambulances responding to

emergency calls from the proposed station location:

As was the case with fire apparatus, ambulances also will reach the majority of

calls in less than four (4) minutes travel time and within six (6) minutes for most of the

service area. These are excellent projected travel times, and show that the BVFD can

continue to provide quick response times if a station were constructed on the new site.

Based on the preceding analysis, the project team makes the following

recommendation:



Recommendation: The BVFD should continue to move forward with plans to replace the current fire station, and construct a fire station on the land currently owned by the District and planned for the future station.

Bedford Village Firehouse Study - Matrix

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