DINUBA – As it looks to the future, the Dinuba Fire Department has been evaluating its operations and community needs through the development of a master plan.
The Dinuba Fire Department Master Plan identified that the department has a strong foundation but needs to expand its staffing capabilities and prepare to serve a growing city. The plan was completed by AP Triton Consulting and presented to the Dinuba City Council by John Binaski, a local retired fire chief, during a work session April 14.
“What we looked at in the study was we have provided a data-driven evaluation of fire department and EMS services provided,” Binaski said. “We identified community risk — basically the structures that are existing, aging structures, what type of fire protection systems are within them, the demands of the current department, … and then we came up with some findings and some recommendations.”
The master plan is composed of a Community Risk Assessment, Standards of Cover (CRA-SOC) Deployment Analysis and a fire station location study.
First, Binaski shared a brief overview of the department’s history and service area. While the department is responsible for fire response primarily within city limits, Binaski noted that the ambulance response area is much wider. The report, however, only focused on both fire and ambulance response within city limits.
In addition to analyzing both fire and EMS personnel workloads and response times, the master plan identified the need for a second fire station in the city of Dinuba. According to the plan, previous studies dating back to 1992 have identified this need. This is due to the city expanding in both population and area. A second fire station would allow for better response times depending on where an incident is located.
Binaski said the study, just like previous studies, identified that the best spot for a second station would be along West Sierra Way, near Centennial Park and where the new Fire Training Facility is.
Personnel needs
In evaluating the department, the master plan showed what the department does well and what areas it could improve on.
For fire protection, the Dinuba Fire Department received a Public Protection Classification grade of Class 2 by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) in 2022. Classifications can range from one to 10, with one being the best.
The classification is based on an analysis conducted by ISO to determine how well a department can protect properties from fires. It is then used by some companies to set property insurance rates.
An area where the department could improve is its number of personnel, both in total and on each shift, Binaski said.
According to the master plan, the department operates one station that is staffed 24 hours a day, every day. It has a minimum daily staffing level of six personnel, with at least five trained in firefighting.
Eleven personnel are assigned to each shift, Binaski said. Shifts include one captain, one fire engineer, four firefighter-paramedics, two firefighter-EMTs, two single-role paramedics and one single-role EMT.
According to the master plan, on-duty fire suppression personnel are assigned to one fire engine and three primary ambulances. The fire engine is typically staffed by a captain and fire engineer, and the ambulances are staffed with a firefighter paramedic and firefighter EMT pair or a single-role paramedic and EMT pair.
This means that when one fire engine and one ambulance respond to a call, four personnel would be on scene, which is not ideal, Binaski said. The National Fire Protection Association recommends that a minimum of 14 to 16 firefighters should respond to a moderate fire risk, such as a fire at a single-family residence.
Binaski said that although that’s the recommendation, that doesn’t mean the expectation can be met by a majority of fire departments.
“Really, that’s the bigger, larger municipalities like Hanford, Tulare and so on,” Binaski said.
Still, it means that Dinuba relies heavily on mutual aid from neighboring agencies to respond to calls, but even those closest to Dinuba have small numbers, Binaski said. The closest personnel to Dinuba come from the Tulare County Fire Department, including Station 3 just south of Dinuba city limits along Alta Avenue, and Station 4 in Cutler-Orosi.
Binaski said it takes a long time for mutual aid partners to arrive in Dinuba compared to the mutual aid that’s available to other jurisdictions in the area.
“Let’s say compared to Selma for instance, they have engines from the county right around them, they have Kingsburg that’s right down the road, so they have a much faster way to get to 12 people than they unfortunately do in Dinuba,” Binaski said.
Along with the need for more fire personnel, Binaski said that the department should work to formalize its agreements for mutual aid with surrounding jurisdictions.
Additional observations and recommendations are listed in the 200-plus page master plan, which is available through the city council agenda on the city website. The Dinuba City Council had little comment on the master plan.
