By Robert Stanton
The Houston Chronicle
PEARLAND, Texas — Pearland City Council plans to pore over a voluminous report that recommends the city consolidate its fire and emergency medical services.
Under the plan, which was prepared by McGrath Consulting Group. firefighters and EMS personnel would be cross-trained to fight fires and provide emergency medical services. They would operate under the fire department.
The plan would cost millions of dollars to implement, given the need for more substations, apparatus and personnel.
If done in stages, the plan is doable, said Tim McGrath, president of McGrath, which is based in Wonder Lake, Ill.
“We laid out a plan that includes how many people (are needed), how much apparatus and what stations you should and shouldn’t have,” McGrath said. “If you implement it as you go, which is our recommendation, it would still be millions, but spread out over period of time.”
Mayor Tom Reid believes the timing is right to consolidate the departments, given the city’s phenomenal growth.
According to the report, Pearland encompasses 72.7 square miles — 45 percent is developed — and has a population of 94,400.
The city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction covers another 26.2 square miles and has a population of 26,600.
By 2025, the city’s population is expected to hit 161,300.
“We’ve grown to the point where most cities today have the emergency medical service as part of the fire department, and the fire department is the major employee base,” Reid said, adding that the change would mean better organization and more control for the city.
Over time, Reid said, the city’s fire stations will be refitted to accommodate both fire and EMS personnel, with the future Fire Station No. 5 serving as the model. That station is under construction at 3100 Kirby near the water tower at Pearland Town Center and will built to house both emergency medical staffers and firefighters.
The fire department has 18 full-time firefighters and about 40 volunteers, Fire Chief Glenn Turner said.
The city’s emergency medical services has 36 full-time staff members who respond to calls and about 15-20 part-timers, as well as director Jeffrey Sundseth and a secretary.
From 2005-2009, the number of emergency fire calls increased 88.1 percent, and EMS calls increased 59.9 percent, according to the report.
Both agencies make it to the scene within four minutes about 90 percent of the time.
Response times would be reduced if Pearland combines its fire and EMS services, McGrath said.
“Nationwide, of the (cities) that provide both fire and EMS, about 70 percent of what a fire department does is EMS,” McGrath said.
City Councilman Steve Saboe said the massive report contains some good ideas, but also presents monumental challenges.
“There seemed to be a lot of good ideas in it, but there’s also a lot of challenges with it,” Saboe said. “And like many of the things we deal with, the challenges are financial.”
Copyright 2010 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company