3b. Chief John Wolff, Chanhassen Fire Department3�
CIIANHASSEN FIRE DEPARTMENT
MEMORANDUM
Station i
PO Box 97
7610 Laredo Drive
Chanhassen, MN 553
TO: Todd Gerhardt, City Manager
FROM: John Wolff - Fire Chief
Ed Coppersmith - 1 Assistant Chief
Rick Rice - 2 " Assistant Chief
Mark Littfin - Fire Marshal
DATE: October 13, 2011
SUBJ: Monthly City Council Update
Fire Department Overview:
Station 2
6400 Minnewashta Pkwy.
Excelsior, MN 5533
Staffing is at 49 active firefighters as of October 12, 2011. There are three firefighters currently
on leave and five new members attending probationary firefighter training. A total of four
firefighters have retired already this year. We anticipate that three to four firefighters may retire
or resign in 2012.
Year to date (YTD) there have been 436 calls for service. At this time last year we were at 513
calls for service. The primary driver for the difference is the high number of EMS /medical calls
we saw last year. This year we have also seen a 15% reduction in false alarms. Staffing for call
response is down 19.4% from 9,546 year to date in 2010 versus 7,698 hours year to date in 2011.
There were 41 calls in September compared to 62 calls at the same time last year.
There was one call for mutual aid during the month of September.
Safety & Training: We have completed the hiring process for a new position, Assistant Chief
of Training & Safety. We are currently in the midst of hiring a Department Safety Officer. This
position will be responsible to ensure that our safety programs are the best they can be given our
resources, and ensure we meet minimum OSHA, NIOSH, and NFPA standards. This position
will be effective November 1, 2011.
Staff Time (not call related): Our staff time for community events, fire education, duty crew
standby, department meetings, and training is at 5,538 hours year to date. At the same time last
year we were at 5,054 hours.
Fire Marshal
Fire Prevention: We are in the middle of fire prevention week activities. As of Wednesday
morning we had visits from St. Hubert's School and Chanhassen Elementary. The remaining two
schools will be visiting later this week with additional visits next week to Chapel Hill, a number
of day care centers, and church preschools. The open house is scheduled for Sunday, October
16' from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the main fire station. We hope to see all of you there.
Fire Investigations: The only fire to report on was small deck fire on Sunday, October 2nd at
1:32 a.m. The fire was for an address on Autumn Ridge. The arriving deputies extinguished the
majority of the fire. Upon the fire department's arrival we checked for fire extension into
unburned parts of the deck and structure. The cause of the fire was determined to be ashes
falling from a barbecue grill used earlier in the evening.
Fire Inspections: Inspections are being done at various projects with different levels of
completion which include the downtown parking ramp, Autobahn Motorplex, Cub Foods
remodel and addition, K. Hovnanian Townhomes, and BP rebuild. We have also started
inspections of apartment buildings for their licensing requirements.