FIRE DEPARTMENT
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Audit findings
The state auditor's office released the final draft today of a performance audit for the Warren Fire Department. Findings are:
Department staffing is high at the officer level and in the number of fire inspectors. The department should strive to make its operations more efficient by negotiating mutual aid agreements, realigning its staffing structure and more fully utilizing technology in its fire prevention, suppression and investigating activities.
To improve response time and services, the city should immediately reopen two closed fire stations and begin maintaining a minimum of three fire stations. Also, based upon the potential availability of additional resources, the city should consider opening a fourth station in an effort to improve the response time to outlying areas.
Fire related 911 emergency calls are being handled by police dispatchers and transferred to fire department dispatchers. The city should establish a single 911 service by consolidating police and fire emergency dispatching.
Certain functions in the department's computer system have not been used in the past because outlying stations did not have computer access.
The department does not charge a fee for inspecting residential and commercial building construction projects. It could bring in about $40,000 annually if it did.
Although the city's overall compensation package for firefighters is in line with peer cities, personal and vacation day accrual rates are significantly higher than peer cities. Also, firefighters do not contribute to health-care costs.
The city should consider enforcing false alarm citations, which could generate about $7,500 annually.
Improvements in operational efficiency can be accomplished by completing an accurate inventory of buildings that require inspection and the efficient scheduling of inspectors during business hours. Inspectors do not adequately document inspections, re-inspections or violations to meet compliance with the Ohio Basic Building Code.
The department should implement a computerized inspection database to increase the efficiency of the inspection processes and the accuracy of its inventory of buildings.
Source: Ohio Auditor's Office