Breakdown of all calls between July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2014 (numbers were provided by the Lehigh Acres Fire Dept.)
Station 101 2797 = 3.83 calls per day = .16 calls per hour
Station 102 6675 = 9.14 calls per day = .38 calls per hour
Station 103 4700 = 6.44 calls per day = .27 calls per hour
Station 104 4002 = 5.48 calls per day = .23 calls per hour
Station 105 2162 = 2.96 calls per day = .12 calls per hour
Historical numbers shows that running the lower volume stations 24/7 is costing the tax payers 100’s of thousands of extra dollars a year.
Cost saving solutions:
1. Browning out two stations for 12 hours per day (rotating stations on the off peak time using historical data). This will not jeopardize service, will increase morale and decrease overtime pay.
2. Changing firefighter schedules to 12 hours a day (just like the Lee County Sheriff’s Office) for 3 days on and four days off – verses – 24 hours on and 48 hours off. This will not jeopardize service, will increase morale and decrease overtime pay. It does not violate Florida Statue or the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
3. Elimination of all “Kelly days” this is a paid day off taken at a scheduled interval in addition to normal time off or vacation.
Also maintenance issues become easier to handle because you know when that station equipment is not being used.
These savings measures are 100% trackable and measureable and should not be ignored by the fire department or its board.
The next regular monthly of the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District will be held on July 29, 2014 and will begin at 5:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District, Station 104, 3102 16th St SW, Lehigh Acres, FL 33976.
Budget meeting scheduled at 4:00 p.m. the same day, same place.
Mr. Editor, I think you failed to mention how long the average call takes to complete. Ambulances spend almost an hour at each hospital to off-load patients, that doesn’t include spending time on scene, and responding to calls, and transport times to the hospital. Fires take up many man hours and equipment hours as well. Each report takes about a half hour to write. All these things add up to more than just what you have dispalyed, although factual information, but stuff is left out.
That’s not the purpose of the article.
The purpose was to prove at least two station could be browned out for 12 hours and the basic facts do prove that the hypothesis is correct.
Lehigh Acres Gazette Web Team
How could these stations be browned out? From what I understand Mr. Editor, my personal research into the matter seems to show that Lehigh Acres Fire Rescue is one of the busiest departments in the county when it comes to involving man hours. 82 is one of the worst roads in the county for vehicle wrecks. Each week it seems that there are extreme accidents happening on that road that use a lot of man power. They run the most working house fires in the county. Again, lots of man hours used. Lehigh also runs the most Brush Fires in the county that require a significant response because their response time is long, which allows fire to grow. When you have a brush fire in an area such as Lehigh, you have to not only worry about the brush burning, but provide structure protection because houses are threatened all the time. You are attacking one of the busiest fire departments in South Florida. Their coverage area is bigger than Cape Coral, and Cape Coral Fire Rescue has 11 stations. Cape Coral covers a population just over 100,000 and Lehigh covers a population of around 80,000. You want to brown out the stations that they have??? And how do you know that 12 hour shifts will boost moral…did you ask the firefighters? If you get rid of their Kelly Days, I’m sure you are going to have to pay the Employee’s overtime because they will fall into FLSA laws.
The numbers came for the LAFD it proves that why are not busy all the time. The department most cut cost period or layoff men your choice? No one has attacked them its a business and should run as a business.
On Three 12 hours shifts off four 4 days 13 shifts two station browned out 12 hours every day NO OT required and NO Kelly Days required because because FSLA is violated.
Cuts Cost $$$$$$$ real money save jobs
Lehigh Acres Gazette Web Team
you can look at it as a business, but when your in the business of saving LIVES, PROPERTY, AND ENVIRONMENT, your typical business model goes out the window. It’s not like a hardware store where the nuts and bolts may not get the attention they need in a timely matter and the end result is they expire. What kind of reader numbers would your paper have if you reported the news a day or so later than everyone else because you had your computer “browned” out for a few hours a day to save man hours. In some cases, IT JUST DOESN’T WORK.
LAFD is a business and 12 hour shifts can work, so you stating 12 hours did not work? But LCSO uses them! So men in green it works fine for but the men in blue it doesn’t, wrong.
Lehigh Acres Gazette Web Team