HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2401-2493CITY OF PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
Special Meeting
Monday, March 11, 2024
Council Chambers & Hybrid
5:30 PM
Agenda Item
16.Santa Clara Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) Countywide Fire Service
Review Report: Highlights and Recommendations for Palo Alto Fire Department
City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: INFORMATION REPORTS
Lead Department: Fire
Meeting Date: March 11, 2024
Report #:2401-2493
TITLE
Santa Clara Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) Countywide Fire Service Review
Report: Highlights and Recommendations for Palo Alto Fire Department
RECOMMENDATION
This report is informational and does not require action by the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
LAFCO Countywide Fire Service Review Report assessed the risks and service demands for the
County and reviewed the performance and resources of the nine Fire and Emergency Service
Providers.
The report identifies some notable findings and challenges in the performance of the Palo Alto
Fire Department. Among the findings is the mention of PAFD being the only fire agency in the
county that is the primary ambulance provider in its community. On the other hand, the
challenges include the recommendation to increase resources, improve facilities and
equipment, and explore partnerships and other areas that require continued attention to
enhance services.
The city has responded to LAFCO (attached).
The full report can be found online here:
https://santaclaralafco.org/sites/default/files/FireSRReview-FinalReport-2023.pdf
BACKGROUND
LAFCO is responsible for regulating the boundaries of cities and special districts in the county.
LAFCO enlisted the services of AP Triton to conduct a comprehensive Countywide Fire Service
Review for Santa Clara County. This review focuses on fire and emergency services provided to
the 1.9 million residents of Santa Clara County (SCC).
The county has nine fire and emergency service providers. American Medical Response (AMR)
provides emergency medical transport services for most of the county, while the Palo Alto Fire
Department (PAFD) serves Palo Alto and Stanford University.
The Countywide Fire Service Review provides valuable information for LAFCO, cities, special
districts, and the public to understand and improve fire and emergency services. It highlights
the need to address resource needs for current and growing demands, seismic protection and
capacity issues for facilities, interoperability challenges, and coordination among agencies to
enhance service delivery and response capabilities.
This memo reflects highlights, challenges, and recommendations for Palo Alto and the Palo Alto
Fire Department, summarizing the final report.
ANALYSIS
Highlights
•PAFD provides its residents a full range of services, including being the only fire
agency in Santa Clara County to be the primary ambulance provider.
•PAFD is the busiest fire department in Santa Clara County, running 107 calls per 1,000
residents.
•PAFD has a 90th percentile performance time standard for emergency responses adopted
by City officials of 8:00 minutes or less.
•The City of Palo Alto meets State laws for transparency and accountability, including
making information easily accessible to the public, maintaining a compliant website,
providing ethics training and economic interest reporting, following financial reporting
requirements, and adhering to open meeting requirements. In addition, the city goes
beyond these requirements through several efficient web-based tools with accessible
platforms to access various city documents and information, and a forum for online
civic engagement.
•PAFD leads a program as the official Agency for Hazmat Business Plans and above-
ground storage tanks for the entire County.
•Palo Alto and Stanford are noted as the top two of all 14 designated communities at the
highest risk of wildfire in the County.
•PAFD shares a reserve Ladder Truck with the Mountain Fire Department (MVFD).
However, MVFD has a new truck on order and plans to terminate the agreement once
the new truck is in service.
•The City of Palo Alto‘s financing levels are sufficient to provide an adequate and
sustained level of fire and EMS services but are not yet able to fund pre-pandemic
service levels (this data is as of 2022).
•The city benefits from a shared Computer Automated Dispatch system and
automatic aid agreements between Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos.
Challenges
Measuring Performance
Two primary measures are used in Fire and Emergency Response for performance.
Response Time: Response time is the time from receipt of a 9-1-1 call to the time the first unit
arrives on scene. The standard in the field is to measure the 90th percentile response time i.e.
90% of the responses are at or below the set time standard. The adopted standard for PAFD is a
90th percentile response time of 8:00 minutes or less.
Unit Hour Utilization (UHU): Unit Hour Utilization measures workload for each response unit.
This is the percentage of time during the day the unit actively responds to a call. This measure
shows how busy the system is and if units are available enough to respond to the service
demand of an area. UHU measurements also capture if there is enough time in the day for the
firefighters on the unit to complete necessary daily tasks, such as report writing, training, and
required breaks. The maximum UHU recommended is 10% which allows a system to be
primarily self-sufficient and optimizes staff injury prevention.
Once UHU reaches 10% for a primary responding unit, a Fire Department will see increased
challenges to meet the standard 90th percentile response time due to the unavailability of
resources for immediate response. An agency would need to add resources or experience
reduced call volume to meet response time standards.
•Performance
o Palo Alto’s adopted standard is 8:00 minutes or less 90% of the time. The study
period shows Palo Alto’s 90th percentile response time is 9:41 minutes. Other
cities adopted time standards can be found in Figure 6 of the LAFCO report; none
of the agencies are meeting their adopted emergency response standard.
o Palo Alto has a high percentage of on-duty units that exceed a 10% UHU and
significantly exceeds the average incidents per 1000 people in Santa Clara
County. The study notes that PAFD is “excessively busy” and recommends that
PAFD should add additional resources to manage the call volume and improve
response time performance effectively.
o PAFD has one engine at 10.7% and three ambulances significantly exceeding
10% of UHU. The three remaining engine companies are over or close to 9%
UHU. The report specifically notes a concern for Fire Station 4, “Two of the
medic units are stationed with another response unit. However, Medic 64
operates with a 19.1% UHU and is the only resource assigned to station 4.”
o Given the growth projected for the city and the existing unit utilization level,
there are challenges meeting the current and projected demand for service for
both ambulances and three of the four fire engine companies. LAFCO
recommends that an additional engine company be assigned to Fire Station 4 to
improve performance, and an additional ambulance to improve the
sustainability and performance of the EMS transport response system citywide.
•Facilities
o Five fire stations are over 50 years old, and 4 have either unknown seismic
protection or no protection. Generally, Palo Alto’s stations are older and do not
meet the requirements of modern firefighting. A facility improvement and
replacement plan is needed.
•Apparatus
o Fifty-five percent (55%) of Palo Alto’s fleet are in good or better condition; 31%
are fair, and 13% are in poor condition. The Squad unit, engine, and a utility
vehicle all need replacement, as of the 2022 report data. Subsequent to this, the
air-light unit (Squad) is currently being built, and staff are evaluating electric
vehicle options to inform the purchase of new vehicles.
Agency Comparison
The Cities of Mountain View (MVFD) and Santa Clara (SCFD) are the most comparable to Palo
Alto in the County. Mountain View and Santa Clara are comparative cities in Santa Clara County
because they are the most similar to Palo Alto regarding population, call volume, geography,
and land use. All three are relatively small cities with a mix of residential homes and businesses,
and the unique demands of the west side of the Bay Area are near Interstates 101, 280, and Cal
Train. Mountain View is Palo Alto's direct neighbor with a similar population size and land use
mix of residential, commercial, and industrial. Santa Clara is most comparable when considering
call volume. Santa Clara's population is larger but similar to Palo Alto's daily population, which
includes workers and visitors. Another critical criterion is that they operate a fire department
with a traditional service delivery model. It should also be noted that no comparison is exact,
for example, Palo Alto provides full emergency medical services, including transport of patients
neither of these agencies is the primary responsible organization for this service, which lies with
the County of Santa Clara for emergency medical transport care.
Attachment 1 to this report provides an infographic with some key data points of comparison
from the report.
•PAFD is servicing a larger geographic area with a call demand profile of a higher
population due to the increase in activity during the day.
•PAFD geographic area includes significantly more open space with a higher fire danger
but has fewer fire-suppression units than MVFD and SCFD.
•PAFD is 1:41 over the 8:00 minute 90th percentile adopted standard, while MVFD is
0:55 over their 7:20 minute standard, and SCFD is 1:03 seconds over their respective
7:00 minute standard.
•PAFD’s busiest engine has a UHU of 11%, compared to MVFD at 8% and SCFD at 7%
Ambulance UHUs are much higher at 22% or 19%, while Engine 61 has a UHU of 11%, and the
remaining three engines are at 9% UHU.
•PAFD has older facilities with the average Fire Station age at 46, compared to MVFD at
35 and SCFD at 36.
•Countywide Fire Services Review Report Recommendations and Potential Implementors
The specific recommendations outlined by LAFCO were responded to in the attached letter.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
There are no fiscal impacts in receiving and reviewing the report. The Fire Department is
reviewing investment needs to maintain, improve, and anticipate future service needs and risks
and expects to review these as part of the Fiscal Year 2025 budget process.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The Fire Department plans to conduct an extensive Strategic Planning process beginning in Fiscal
Year 2025 that will convene residents, businesses, and other relevant stakeholders in
determining the goals and focus areas for the Fire Department.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
No environmental review is required since no Council action is requested.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: City of Palo Alto Response to Santa Clara Local Agency Formation Commission
Countywide Fire Service Review Final Report
Attachment B: Infographic Comparison of Palo Alto, Mountain View and Santa Clara data from
the LAFCO Report
APPROVED BY:
Geo Blackshire, Fire Chief
Neelima Palacherla
Executive Officer
Santa Clara LAFCO
777 North First Street, Suite 410
San Jose, CA 95112
Dear Neelima Palacherla,
The City of Palo Alto has received and reviewed the Santa Clara Local Agency Formation Commission
(LAFCO) Countywide Fire Service Review Report. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the City’s
consideration of all recommendations listed for the Palo Alto Fire Department Table A and B,
recommendations 2, 2B, 8, 8E, 31, 24, and 25.
Table A #2 & #2B Unit Utilization Hours (Pages xiii, 24, 25, 276 finding 5-5)
Recommendation San Jose, Palo Alto, Gilroy and CCFD all have units with UHUs over 10%. These
agencies should add additional resources to effectively manage the call volume
and improve response time performance
Palo Alto Units (Pages 261)
E61 (10.7%), M61 (22.3%), M62 (18.5%), and M64 (19.1%)
The City would need to add resources or reduce call volume to meet response
time standards.
Palo Alto Response Palo Alto Fire Department staff will evaluate resource needs to support a
reduction in UHU and work with the City’s Budget Office to develop a feasible
financial and implementation strategy as part of the Fiscal Year 2025 budget
planning process. The ability to advance such a strategy will depend on funding
available.
Table A. #8 & #8E Facility Replacement & Maintenance Planning (Pages 270, 277)
Recommendation Five of the seven stations are over 50 years in age and/or were identified as
not meeting the needs of a modern fire station: (Station 1: 57 years), (Station
2: 27 years), (Station 4: 69 years), (Station 5: 55 years), (Station 6: 50 years),
and Station 8. The city’s current five-year Capital Improvement Plan only
identifies Station 4 for replacement.
It was not apparent if an additional plan was in place for the other older
stations.
Station 6 is owned and maintained by Stanford University. Palo Alto has
worked to update its facilities, including seismic protection, however,
Stations 1, 2, 5, and 8 are nearing “end of life” and should be included in a plan
for replacement.
Establish a comprehensive facility replacement plan and a maintenance plan
for fire stations.
Palo Alto Response Palo Alto’s Public Works Department is in the process of finalizing a new City-
wide facilities condition assessment report for all City facilities, including all fire
stations. Following its completion, the City will use the report to evaluate the
needs for individual fire stations and will develop recommendations for a plan
for capital improvements and/or replacements as appropriate.
Table A #31 Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and CCFD (Pages 75, 279 finding 5-19)
Recommendation Exploring options for alternative structures such as joint powers authorities
combining two or more neighboring agencies (Mountain View, Palo Alto,
Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and CCFD), could potentially bring efficiencies and value-
added services to Mountain View and other smaller fire service providers in
Santa Clara County. Creating a larger entity with a unified structure can offer
benefits such as increased accountability, improved efficiency, and enhanced
effectiveness in delivering fire services to the community. While Mountain View’s
services are satisfactory and appear to be sustainable, there can be opportunities
to pool resources, share expertise, and optimize operations, leading to improved
service delivery.
Explore Joint Powers Authority or sharing resources in collaboration with
Mountain View.
Palo Alto Response The decision to combine with a neighboring fire agency would have to come
from the direction of the governing bodies over the identified agencies. The City
is satisfied with the proven effectiveness of the current auto-aid and mutual-aid
agreements with neighboring fire departments. Efficiencies have been utilized
with Mountain View with a shared computer automated dispatch system.
Table B. #24  D. Land Use Consideration (Pages 88-89, 279 finding 5-20)
Recommendation Lucille M. Nixon Elementary School and Escondido Elementary School are
located outside of the City of Palo Alto city limits but inside its SOI and USA.
Lucille M. Nixon Elementary School is entirely surrounded by the Stanford
University property, and Escondido Elementary School is surrounded on three
sides by the university property. Palo Alto FD provides contract services to
Stanford University’s property; however, the two schools are excluded from
the contract service area, meaning the schools lack a formally identified fire
and emergency medical provider. Given the nature of the use of the property
with structures and students, there is a need to ensure adequate fire and
emergency services are provided to the two properties.
It is recommended that the City of Palo Alto and Palo Alto Unified School
District form an agreement for fire and emergency medical services at two
elementary schools that lie outside of local fire service provider and are
excluded from the City’s contract service area with Stanford University.
Palo Alto Response Palo Alto does not recognize a service gap with Lucille M. Nixon and Escondido
Elementary Schools as both schools are within the City of Palo Alto service area.
PAFD responds to all emergency incidents and provides fire inspections at all
Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) schools.
The City of Palo Alto appreciates the in-depth assessment of Countywide Fire and Emergency Services
and is will continue to consider the recommendations to improve the services we provide to protect the
life, safety, and property of the City and Stanford University.
Sincerely,
Ed Shikada
City Manager
City of Palo Alto
Palo Alto
84,772*
32 sq. miles
8,149
6
87
7
3
Mtn View
84,038
Santa Clara
127,151
12 Sq. miles 20 Sq. miles
4,695 9,259
5
68
8
0
9
132
13
0
In Square Miles
Land Use Profile
18.8
1.9
1.2
7.8
5.0
8.4
2.7
3.0
7.8
2.7
1.9
2.2
0.1
0.4
Parks & Open Space Residential Commericial & Industrial Public Facility Other
Palo Alto
Mountain View
Santa Clara
0 2.5 5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25 27.5 30 32.5
2023 LAFCO Countywide Fire Service ReviewData Comparison
*Palo Alto population includes contracted service area for Stanford Univeristy
Daily Staffing
18
21
36
6 8
14
17
13.5
4.5
18.5
Fire Units Ambulance Units Fire Prevention Administration & Communications
Palo Alto
Mountain View
Santa Clara
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Workload Measures Average Time
per Incident
Incidents per
1,000 population
Busiest Unit
in Unit Hr Utilization
90th Percentile
Response Time
Palo Alto Fire: 11%
EMS: 22%
Fire: 22-36mins
EMS: 48-53mins107 9:41 mins
Mtn View 8%15-27mins64 8:15 mins
Santa Clara 7%24-37mins69 8:03 mins