Reaching the outskirts: Jackson officials to ask for new fire substation

This year, Jackson officials will begin discussing possible ways to fund a new fire substation -- and it may come down to asking the voters if they would be in favor of a sales tax.

Jackson's one fire station is not suitable for the rapidly growing city, fire chief Brad Golden has said.

Much of the growth is spreading farther away from the city's only fire station. Many homes -- some of the nicest in town -- are almost four miles away from the fire station, located in the center of Jackson at the intersection of Hope Street and Jackson Boulevard.

Because of its location, response times to an emergency sometimes take longer than the five minutes the city would like.

"We try to keep a benchmark response time of 5 minutes but that can be longer due to traffic and distance," Golden said. The National Fire Protection Association has set a six-minute standard, which is a guideline and not a law.

Timing is critical when responding to a fire, especially to the north and northeast sections of Jackson, particularly the Bent Creek Golf Course and Klaus Park areas.

In fact, the probability of death in a fire increases as the response times increase, Golden said.

In 2004, nearly 39 percent of response times were over five minutes for the Jackson Fire Department. On one occasion during after-school traffic, it took more than 10 minutes to reach the northeastern end of the city.

Quick response time to emergency medical calls is extremely critical. When breathing stops, irreversible brain damage can occur in four to six minutes without oxygen, Golden said.

For several years, Golden has been saying Jackson needs a satellite fire station.

However, a new station effectively would double the current fire department staff. It would also require purchasing land to build a new station.

Golden estimated in 2000 that a satellite fire station would cost around $1 million to build with annual operating costs of $450,000 to $640,000. Currently, there is not enough revenue to accommodate another fire station.

"We're looking to meet in the next few weeks to discuss some options we have," Golden said in January. "Once that is decided we're going to have to figure out the best feasible way to fund it."

In the past eight years, there has been a 450 percent increase in calls to the Jackson Fire Department.

The city sent out a survey in July 2005 to residents, seeking opinions of a tax increase to support an additional fire station. The survey stated: "Due to current Insurance Service Office (ISO) ratings a second fire station will be necessary to prevent significant increase in homeowner insurance rates. Would you support a sales tax to add a fire substation that would maintain homeowners' insurance rates and that would provide residents more equal fire protection?"

An overwhelmingly 600 of 745 completed survey respondents replied they would be in support of a sales tax for a new fire substation.

Issues to deal with

Jackson Mayor Paul Sander has said several things need to be complete before a new substation is constructed.

"We have to pin down a location, find out some costs to build this, but we're coming real close," Sander said.

If everything falls into place, a sales tax to help with the costs of a new station could be a ballot item in 2006, Sander said.

For the past few years, city officials have been concerned with the one fire station.

The ISO has provided ratings for years and those ratings have become a standard benchmark for insurance companies. The ISO encourages insurance companies to offer discounts in communities with good ratings.

In fact, the ISO warned the city in April 2004 that it was in danger of moving from a five to a six on a 10-point rating scale. The ISO completed a detailed study of Jackson and found it hadn't increased its fire services at the same curve as the city's overwhelming population and land area increase during the 1990s.

The ISO recommends that all buildings be within 1.5 road miles from fire engines and no more than 2.5 miles away from a ladder truck. But as the city has grown, many newer residential areas lie outside the recommended distances.

In 2005, after the city purchased an 85-foot ladder truck, improved its dispatch call center and now requires firefighters to go through more emergency medical service training sessions -- all ISO recommendations -- the ISO lowered Jackson's rating to a four.

"Getting your ISO rating lowered from a five to a four is a big deal," Sander said. "The lower the rating, the better."

Golden agrees that the lower ISO rating is quite an accomplishment. The new ISO rating will go into effect at the beginning of March -- and should lower homeowners insurance for Jackson residents.

But in the long term, the city will eventually need to build a satellite fire substation if it plans to maintain its ISO rating.

"Yes, building a new fire station is definitely still something we are going to need to do eventually," said city administrator Jim Roach.

In 2000, Golden said a computer software that calculates response times showed the best location for a new station would be at the corner of Lacey and Main streets. Three years later, with the East Main Street extension in the works, Golden said a location near the interstate would be a better location as the city continues to grow.

But today, the city has grown in both directions from the only fire station, said Golden.

"We're going to have to look again where a new station would best suit our needs," he said. "We want to get as much bang for our buck."

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 246