Tools

Fire Department Study Moves Forward

by KREX News Room
by Danielle Kreutter

Story Created: Jul 24, 2012 at 10:56 PM MDT

Story Updated: Jul 25, 2012 at 8:24 AM MDT

PALISADE, Colo.- The Fire Chiefs Association continues it's county wide assessment of fire services to look into how they can be improved in the future.

A number of agencies in Mesa County are taking part in the study to examine how the fire departments currently operate and whether there is room for collaboration or shared resources in the future.

On Tuesday night in Palisade, the second in a series of meetings was held to share data on response times, number of calls and distance between stations.

Matrix Consulting is leading the study, which takes a special look at the individual needs of the different types of fire departments in Mesa County.

"For the volunteer and the rural agencies, they're typically responding from somewhere else to the station and then when there's enough of them to staff a piece of apparatus, then they respond to the call, " said Robert Finn, a senior manager at Matrix Consulting Group. "Other volunteers would then respond to the call location, but it takes longer for them to develop what you'd call an effective force."

Through the study, officials are hoping to get input from the public through meetings and a survey in order to find out what needs to change.

"Hearing the information will probably spur some questions and thoughts that we might not have. A lot of times we have something that if we're so close to it that we might not be able to see some of the things that the public can provide for us," said Ken Watkins, chief of the Grand Junction Fire Department and president of the Mesa County Fire Chiefs Association.

The next meeting will take place Aug. 21 from 7-9 p.m. at the Clifton Fire Station located at 3554 F Road. The final presentation will take place Sept. 18 at the Grand Junction City Hall auditorium.

Officials have already received survey feedback from 700 people.

A survey for the fire study can be found at any local Mesa County fire station, excluding those in De Beque.

Click here to take the survey online.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

KREX - News, Weather, Sports for Grand Junction | Montrose | Glenwood Springs - Coverage You Can Count On and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Most Popular
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
News Channel 5 Weather