Chronicle Reports on South Sienna Fire Station (MCFS#5)--CLICK title link for the entire story...
. . . .Staffing and equipment (click title link above for entire Chron. story)
Although not a resident of Sienna Plantation, Greyling Poats, who lives in Oakwick Forest, an older neighborhood on Trammel-Fresno Road about a half mile from Sienna Parkway, expressed concerns about staffing and equipment for the planned fire station and other existing fire stations.
"What's the use building fire stations when they are not adequately manned and equipped," said Poats, who lost in the recent mayoral race against Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen.
During a recent City Council meeting, Poats, an insurance agent, claimed that home insurance is higher in the ZIP code 77459, where his and the Sienna Plantation subdivisions are, than surrounding areas because of what he described as the area's unfavorable risk rating, known as the ISO rating that takes into account the area's fire protection capacity.
Simpson said Sienna Plantation has experienced relatively low demand for emergency responses.
A tally obtained from the fire department shows that between July 2005 and June this year, the subdivision generated an monthly average of 30 calls for service, totaling 370 calls.
That represents 8.5 percent of the total 4,352 calls during the 12-month period.
According to the fire department, the city has 51 firefighters in operations, with an average minimum 13 firefighters across the city per shift with a shift commander and an average minimum three firefighters per shift at each of four stations.
Simpson said balancing overall city needs with available resources is a key consideration in determining a fire station's staffing and equipment.
"Missouri City doesn't have four-men crews at this time like Houston, but we need a balance in meeting all city needs," he said. "If we could get additional men and trucks without taking away resources for other services, we'd be happy to do that.
"You can always use more police or fire protection while others may want more parks or lower taxes. City Council has to determine what it believes is a good balance to meet the overall needs of the city."
However, Simpson said a four-firefighter crew per shift is a municipal goal.
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Comment: I find this coverage well balanced from the Chronicle. I wonder why Mr. Muller didn't mention the monthly price to residents for this second Sienna area station, which was first listed at around 17.95 and later quoted at approximately $30.00? Why the price difference?
--Additional note-- Since Mo-City only rides 3 per truck, apparently in a major fire the first truck would have to wait for a second one to arrive before entering the building. Why was this not mentioned by city officials too?
--They also mention that it won't be completed for another 2-3 years. How many homes will we have then in this area? Why weren't the plans drawn up sooner?
--We'd like to thank Mr. White from a Sienna area neighborhood for his tireless work on the second area fire station and all the residents who became involved with this effort. We must remain vigilant based on the time lapse for delivery.
--Safety first guys!
posted by responsible_dvlpmnt at Thursday, August 31, 2006
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