HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2506-4780CITY OF PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
Special Meeting
Monday, August 18, 2025
Council Chambers & Hybrid
5:30 PM
Agenda Item
B.Palo Alto Fire Department Annual Performance Report for Calendar Year 2024; CEQA
status: not a Project
City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: INFORMATION REPORTS
Lead Department: Fire
Meeting Date: August 18, 2025
Report #:2506-4780
TITLE
Palo Alto Fire Department Annual Performance Report for Calendar Year 2024; CEQA status:
not a Project
RECOMMENDATION
This is an informational report and no action is required.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Annual Performance Report includes important performance measures and highlights
activity and personnel updates for the Fire Department.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
This informational report has no fiscal impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This report is for informational purposes only with no action required by the Council and is
therefore not a project subject to CEQA review.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Fire Department Annual Performance Report Calendar Year 2024
APPROVED BY:
Geoffrey Blackshire, Fire Chief
2024
Palo Alto Fire Department
Annual Report
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CHIEF’S MESSAGE
The 2024 Annual Report focuses on our performance, special projects, and staff recognition for their
service. Some of the highlights in the 2024 report are the following:
There were 9,543 calls for service in 2024, a 3% increase from
2023.
Response time performance measures are now showing the
statistics for the entire system and for all urgent calls. Previously,
they were reported for Fire or EMS calls only.
For the first time, PAFD conducted hands only CPR training for
residents and City employees.
The fire prevention bureau is nearly fully staffed as of early 2025
allowing us to make great progress on completing state mandated
building inspections.
The PAFD 2025-2030 Strategic Plan is posted on our website. This
document was completed with input from community, City and
PAFD stakeholders.
PAFD continues to hire in an effort to keep up with retirements
and turn over. In 2024, we hired 9 entry level firefighters, and 5
lateral firefighters.
I am excited about our progress in 2025 and the opportunities before us. I would like to thank the PAFD
team, their families, our partners, and Palo Alto leadership for their dedication and support.
We always strive to meet our performance standards in emergency response and prevention. We also
aim to prioritize safety, diversity, equity, and firefighter wellness to foster a healthy department and
serve this community with compassion and pride.
Take Care,
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MISSION
We are a professional team dedicated to safeguarding and enriching the lives of anyone, anytime,
anywhere with compassion and pride.
VALUES
The Palo Alto Fire Department members commit to the following values in serving our communities and
each other:
Integrity
We serve our community and support each other with respect and honesty. We approach our
commitment with Dignity and Courage. We are accountable through our every-day actions and
communication.
Innovation
We creatively integrate tradition with technology acknowledging the wealth of resources available in
our community and department to improve health, safety and welfare.
Professionalism
We are dedicated to providing quality service in the delivery of a cost effective and superior service. Our
attitude, appearance, knowledge, skills and abilities are reflective of our commitment to excellence.
Diversity
The members of our department exemplify diversity on multiple levels. Our skills, backgrounds and
experiences allow us to effectively respond to the vast range of emergencies and outreach
opportunities.
Compassion
We exist to serve our communities and support each other with empathy, sincerity and respect.
Education We strive to continually improve ourselves and our skills to increase our own safety and
better protect the communities we serve. We strive to stay abreast of the latest developments in
emergency response. We provide educational opportunities through community outreach to help
increase knowledge of preparedness and personal, family and home safety.
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SERVICE AREA
The Palo Alto Fire Department serves an area of approximately 38.7 square miles including 12.8 square
miles of Stanford University Campus. Stanford University contracts with the PAFD to provide fire and
EMS response to campus and the surrounding area.
There are seven fire stations placed throughout the City and Stanford. All are staffed 24/7, with the
exception of Fire Station 8 in the Palo Alto Nature Preserve which is staffed seasonally by PAFD and
Santa Clara County Fire personnel.
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FIRE STATIONS
Fire Station 1 (Downtown)
301 Alma Ave, Palo Alto, CA
Built in 1965
Engine 61, Medic 61
Fire Station 2 (Mayfield)
2675 Hanover St, Palo Alto, CA
Built in 1965
Engine 62, Medic 62
Fire Station 3 (Rinconada Park)
799 Embarcadero Rd, Palo Alto, CA
Built in 2021
Engine 63
Fire Station 4 (Mitchell Park)
3600 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA
Built in 1953
Engine 64, Medic 64 (Cross-Staffed)
Fire Station 5 (Barron Park)
600 Arastradero, Palo Alto, CA
Built in 1967
Engine 65
Fire Station 6 (Stanford University)
711 Serra Ave, Stanford, CA
Built in 1972
Engine 66, Truck 66
Fire Station 8 (Foothills Park)
Foothills Park, Page Mill Rd, Palo Alto, CA
Built in 1986
Staffed seasonally during Summer by PAFD
and Santa Clara Co. Fire
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CALLS FOR SERVICE
In Calendar Year 2024, the Palo Alto Fire Department responded to a total of 9,543 calls for service and
18,760 unit movements, or how many units responded to the 9,543 calls. Most calls for service require
more than one unit to respond.
Year Calls for Service Unit Movements
2022 8,578 16,958
2023 9,272 18,026
2024 9,543 18,760
Rescue and Emergency Medical Incidents make up 62% of all calls for service. These calls include heart
attacks, strokes, injuries and other emergency medical situations, including motor vehicle accidents, and
any auto extrication or technical rescues.
Good Intent Calls (15%): Good Intent calls capture incidents where there may have been an emergency,
but it turned out to be non-emergent or nothing at all. For example, someone could smell smoke and
call 9-1-1, but after firefighters arrive and investigate, they
may find that the odor was from burnt popcorn down the
hall.
False Alarms and False Calls (13%): These are primarily
alarms that are automatically triggered during
construction or other non-emergency causes such as
steam from a shower, dust, insects, or smoke from
cooking. This category also covers situations where
someone negligently triggered a fire alarm or made an
intentionally false report.
Rescue and
EMS, 62%Good Intent,
15%
False Alarm,
13%
Service Calls,
7%
Fire, 1.5%HazMat and
Other, 1.3%
2024 Calls for Service
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Service Calls (7%): These calls are for situations where the
department is providing a service, but it’s not an
emergency. This can include clean up calls for smoke
removal, water evacuations or other hazards; assisting
with falls in the home; people trapped in an elevator or
elevator overrides.
Fires (1.5%): This covers any fire where smoke and flames are
present, such as small dumpster fires, residential fires,
commercial fires or wildfires. There were 143 fires in 2024, and
although it makes up a small percentage of the overall
incidents, they are the most time consuming and resource
intensive. Large fires typically require all the resources in the
City, including automatic aid from neighboring fire
departments.
Hazardous Materials and Others (1.3%): Most of these are
utilities related, such as a natural gas leak, wiring problem,
powerlines down, but it also includes gasoline, diesel, or oil
spills, chemical releases or other biological hazards.
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RESPONSE TIMES
The time it takes from the 9-1-1 call to the time a fire crew arrives on scene is the primary measurement
of performance for Emergency Response Service. The standard is to arrive within 8 minutes 90% of the
time, and for EMS calls, to have a paramedic ambulance arrive within 12 minutes.
Three unique time segments are included when evaluating an agency's response performance. The first
is the time it takes for the dispatcher to answer the 911 call and notify the agency (call processing); the
second is the time it takes for the agency to receive the call and go en-route to the call (turnout time);
and third is the time it takes for the unit to drive to the incident (travel time). All three segments
combined make up the total response time. For this evaluation, the unit type was not discriminated
against, and the first arriving unit was used to determine the total response time.
Response Times 2023 2024
Percent of a first responder arriving on scene
to all emergency calls within 8 minutes or
less
88%88%
90th Percentile response time of a first
responder arriving on scene to all
emergencies
9:24 9:16
Percent of ambulance arrival to an
emergency medical call within 12 minutes
91%92%
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MAP OF RESPONSE TIMES
The map below shows response times for the first arriving unit on urgent calls for CY 2024.
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MUTUAL AID
The Palo Alto Fire Department provides resources to neighboring jurisdictions in the case of an
emergency or fire station coverage when their own resources are depleted. The assistance is
reciprocated from partnering fire departments which is outlined in the Santa Clara County Mutual Aid
Plan or automatic-aid agreements.
Mutual Aid Provided
Agency 2023 2024
Santa Clara County Fire 97 100
Mountain View Fire 26 45
Menlo Park 9 1
All Others 1 15
All Fire Mutual and Auto Aid Provided 133 161
Mutual Aid Received
Agency 2023 2024
Mountain View Fire 45 52
Menlo Park Fire 43 29
Santa Clara County Fire 14 6
Sunnyvale Fire 2 0
Santa Clara City Fire 1 0
Woodside Fire 1 3
All Fire Mutual and Auto Aid Received 106 90
Santa Clara County Ambulance 220 270
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EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AND PROGRAMS
AMBULANCE TRANSPORTS AND PATIENTS
Palo Alto is the only Fire Department in the County that operates an ambulance transport service. In
2024 there were a total of 3,936 transports to the hospital from
calls originating in Palo Alto or Stanford. When all of the PAFD
ambulance units are busy, Santa Clara County will offer mutual
aid and send one of their ambulances. In 2024, Santa Clara
County transported on 68 incidents from Palo Alto or Stanford.
Palo Alto Patients Transported
Agency 2023 2024
Palo Alto Fire 3,868 3,868
Santa Clara County 81 68
The majority of patients provided emergency medical services are above the age of 60, making up 65%
of all patients.
CARDIAC ARRESTS
There were a total of 61 full cardiac arrest incidents in 2024. PAFD fire crews are trained multiple times
yearly on High Performance Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation Techniques (HPCPR). This County standard
requires a team of 5 people, with specific roles for all personnel on scene. Each Firefighter performs
HPCPR for no more than two minutes before another team member takes over for the compression
quality to remain consistent.
High Performance CPR was performed on 61 cardiac arrest patients. 15 of the patients achieved a return
of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). ROSC is the resumption of sustained perfusing cardiac activity
associated with significant respiratory effort after cardiac arrest. The Palo Alto Fire Department’s ROSC
rate is 25%, which is aligned with the California State average of 25%.
10 and Under
6%11 to 20
6%21 to 30
7%
31 to 50
7%
51 to 60
9%
61 to 70
14%
71 to 80
17%
81 and Older
34%
CY24: EMS Patients by Age
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Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC)
HPCPR Performed 61
Number of Patients with ROSC 15
PAFD ROSC Rate 25%
CA State Average 25%
PALO ALTO FIREMED PROGRAM
The Department launched a new savings program for ambulance transport
services, called Palo Alto FireMed. Even with medical insurance, an emergency
ambulance ride can cost between $250-700. The Palo Alto FireMed Program for
residents and businesses makes sure participants are not stuck with a bill during an
emergency. Palo Alto FireMed is convenient and cost-effective, covering unlimited
ambulance rides per household for a low cost of $8 per
month, which is only $96 a year. The Department had 271
new enrolled residents in 2024, many of whom have
saved on copays. Residents interested in enrolling should check out the Palo
Alto FireMed Program Website by scanning the QR Code or going to
cityofpaloalto.org/firemed.
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FIRE PREVENTION
The Fire Prevention team ensures that all life and safety codes are being accurately implemented with
new construction, remodeling projects, and commercial development. The team also conducts annual
building and hazardous materials safety inspections.
California state requires annual inspections on certain public buildings with high capacities, such as
schools, hospitals, research facilities, places of worship, entertainment centers, etc. These are tracked
and reported to the State annually. In 2024, due to staffing shortages, only 15% of required buildings
were inspected. In 2025, Fire Prevention hired two additional Fire
Inspectors that will are solely dedicated to completing State mandated
inspections.
The total number of facilities in Palo Alto that store hazardous
materials grows annually. The fire code requires that these facilities
adhere to strict safety measures and requires an annual inspection. Hazmat facilities are tracked and
inspected annually. In late 2024 Hazmat Inspector positions were filled and gradual progress was made
on facility inspections.
Hazardous Materials Inspections
2023 2024
Number of HazMat Facilities 1093 1049
HazMat Inspections Completed 132 364
Percentage Complete 12%35%
The Fire Prevention Division conducts inspections in the Wildland/Urban Interface and construction
projects. Prevention personnel issues permits and approves development plans throughout the year.
The development and construction volume continues increase in numbers. Inspectors are also
responsible for investigating the cause of fires, and in 2024, there were 28 Fire Investigations.
Other Inspections and Investigations
2023 2024
Wildland/Urban Interface 110 152
Construction Inspections 6,643 8,984
Fire Permits 744 791
Plan Review 3,346 3,511
Fire Investigations 56 28
State Mandated Building Inspections
2023 2024
Number of Buildings 532 532
Inspections Completed 137 82
Percentage Complete 26%15%
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH
HANDS ONLY CPR TRAINING
The Fire Department held a Hands Only CPR Training for residents and city staff in September 2024. A
total of 138 people participated, with 68 residents and 70 city employees.
Hands-only CPR involves
providing uninterrupted chest
compressions at a rate of 100–
120 compressions per minute,
without mouth-to-mouth
breaths. It is simple, effective,
and especially useful for
untrained bystanders in
emergencies like sudden cardiac
arrest. This technique can
significantly improve a victim’s
chance of survival when
performed immediately.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
The Palo Alto Fire Department 2025–2030 Strategic Plan is a comprehensive, community-driven
roadmap developed through an inclusive and collaborative process. Facilitated by the Center for Public
Safety Excellence, the plan began with gathering input from a diverse group of community stakeholders
to understand expectations, concerns, and priorities.
This feedback was then carefully reviewed and incorporated by agency personnel during a multi-day
work session, where staff from all levels of the department engaged in structured discussions to define
the department’s mission, values, goals, and areas for improvement. The result is a forward-looking
strategy focused on enhancing emergency services, workforce development, public engagement, and
operational readiness to meet the evolving needs of the Palo Alto and Stanford communities. The
management and administrative staff of the Department will use this plan as a roadmap for initiatives
and creating an annual workplan through 2030.
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TRAINING
Training is a critical component of ensuring firefighters are ready and equipped with the best firefighting
and rescue techniques to minimize the impact of any emergency; every firefighter averaged 363 hours
of training in 2024.
Each year the training team creates an annual training plan with multiple courses each month dedicated
to Fire training, EMS, Specialized training, and Officer preparation.
Typical courses include Fire Engine and Truck Driving, Fire
Investigation, Rope Rescue Awareness and Operations,
Confined Space and Trench Rescue, and 12 lead and EMS
training. This year there were 1,370 hours of training courses
offered.
This year the PAFD Hosted a Santa Clara County Wide wildland
exercise in Foothills Nature Preserve. This exercise included live
fire simulations, coordinated multi-agency responses, and
tactical drills focused on wildland-urban interface firefighting.
Fire crews practiced deploying hose lays, using hand tools, and
conducting structure protection in rugged terrain. The exercise
aimed to improve interagency communication and readiness
ahead of peak fire season.
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THE PEOPLE OF THE PALO ALTO FIRE DEPARTMENT
The 114 people that make up the Department serve the community with a great deal of pride and an
attitude of excellence. The Department has 86 operations staff that are the firefighters, apparatus
operators and fire captains that work in the stations and provide the direct services to the community.
In the Fire Prevention Bureau, there are 9 fire inspectors and managers to ensure buildings and facilities
are up to code and adhere to all new laws that prevent instances of fires and reduce the impact of fires
if they occur. The remaining 19 employees make up Fire Administration and include executive managers
and support staff.
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NEW RECRUITS
It can take more than a year from the time a job announcement is posted before an entry level firefighter
begins work on a fire engine or ambulance. Candidates complete a rigorous selection process including a
physical fitness exam, mental health screening, and background check. Once a candidate is hired, they
complete an intensive 21-week fire academy.
In October, the Department held a Joint Fire Academy with 10 new firefighters hired. Nine remain with the
PAFD today.
Since the 2019 Civil Grand Jury of Santa Clara County Report, “Why Aren’t There More Female Firefighters in
Santa Clara County” the Department has made additional efforts to recruit and retain female firefighters. In
2019, women made up only five percent (5%) of firefighters working at PAFD. As of this report, the
Department has 8 Female Sworn Employees, making up a total of 8% of all sworn employees. Two of the 10
new hires in 2024 were women, however only one successfully completed the probationary period.
Dylan Aamoth
Hometown: Hayward, CA
Hobbies: Baseball, hiking,
camping, and golfing.
Trent Blackshire
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Hobbies: Family time,
basketball, and movies.
Eric Carlson
Hometown: San Mateo,
CA
Hobbies: skiing, rock
climbing, backpacking and
sports.
Karina Jacobs
Hometown: Bay Area, CA
Hobbies: Family time,
basketball, softball, and
watching football.
Kyle Ritchie
Hometown: Union City, CA
Hobbies: Kayaking,
camping, hiking,
snowboarding, and guitar.
Colin Roth
Hometown: Rohnert Park,
CA
Hobbies: Traveling, hiking,
soccer, basketball, and
football.
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New Recruits Continued
Charles Stewart
Hometown: Fremont, CA
Hobbies: Family time,
softball, flag football.
Ignacio Tedeschi
Hometown: Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Hobbies: Woodworking,
baking bread, pizzas and
bagels.
Josef Zargorski
Hometown: Burlingame,
CA
Hobbies: Woodworking,
mountain and road biking,
camping and skiing.
LATERAL HIRES
Lateral hires are new to the Palo Alto Fire Department, but not new to being a firefighter. Lateral hires
complete a shorter in-house Fire Academy to train them on Palo Alto policies, procedures and operations.
Scott Bingham
Hometown: Santa Cruz,
CA
Hobbies: Building cars,
trucks, fishing, hunting
and off-road racing.
Matthew Dariano
Hometown: Morgan Hill,
CA
Hobbies: Family time,
water sports,
snowboarding, camping
and hiking.
Matthew Foster
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Hobbies: Working out,
camping, and traveling.
Ramon Pena Jr.
Hometown: Southern CA
Hobbies: Travelling,
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and
quality time with his sons.
Adam Poarch
Hometown: Lake
Arrowhead, CA
Hobbies: Cooking,
traveling, mountain
biking and fishing.
Jessie Samide
Hometown: Santa Cruz, CA
Hobbies: Travelling,
specifically seeing all seven
wonders of the world. So
far 5 out of 7!
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Lateral Hires Continued
Ben Slaughter
Hometown: Boulder
Creek, CA
Hobbies: Mountain biking,
fishing, four wheeling, dirt
biking, camping and
golfing.
PROMOTIONS
Kyle Alarid
Fire Captain
James Crain
Fire Inspector
Sunny Gutter-Johnson
Fire Captain
Carlos Gracia
Training Captain
Chris Mosko
Fire Inspector
Carlos Pinedo
Fire Captain
Nicholas Rohrer
Fire Captain
Deonshawn Strother
Fire Inspector
David Villareal
Hazmat Inspector
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RETIREMENTS
Jon Matsumoto
Firefighter
20 Years of Service
Ray Diaz Jr.
Firefighter
24 Years of Service w/ Fire
28 Years w/ the City
Aaron Craine
Apparatus Operator
17 Years of Service
Hugo Godoy
Fire Captain
20 Years of Service
Brian Kerezsi
Firefighter
24 Years of Service