North Liberty to add 3 full-time firefighters, new fire station in near future
George ShillcockNorth Liberty Fire Chief Brian Platz recognizes that his department must expand to provide the increased services that the city's growing population requires.
Platz told the Press-Citizen the effect of that growth is becoming noticeable in the amount of calls The North Liberty Fire Department responds to. Just in the last 10 days, the department has fought three building fires, helped with a trench collapse rescue and a minor explosion at the city's wastewater treatment facility. Indeed, Platz had to wrap up his interview quickly Tuesday because a call came in that he had to help his department respond to in Solon.
Iowa City Fire Marshal Brian Greer, who lives in North Liberty, spoke to the Iowa City Council on Monday after accepting a proclamation by Mayor Bruce Teague for Fire Prevention Week, and noted that he was he was recently awakened by neighbors who knew he was on the fire department and went to assist at a North Liberty blaze.
"Fortunately, the person that was in the house was able to get out," Greer said.
While Platz said he expects the number of fire calls to return to normal compared to the last 10 days, he is also anticipating the help that is on the way to the NLFD. The city received a $1 million grant to help it hire three full-time firefighters. North Liberty is also working on a plan to add a fire station on the city's west side.
"I don't know what's going to happen in two years, let alone five years, in North Liberty with development and that sort of thing. No one does. We just need to be prepared and react so we can stay ahead of the curve to address the need in our community," Platz said.
Platz said the city is trying to ramp up staffing and facilities.
"We just need to be prepared to answer the call of the community," Platz said.
Rapid Growth of North Liberty leads fire department to add full-time positions
North Liberty is growing — 7,105 new people since 2010 — and with that comes increased calls for services to the fire department. The department not only serves the city of more than 20,000 people, but also the surrounding communities, and even assists on calls in other cities that have their own fire departments.
Platz said the city's growth showed the NLFD was a little behind, with high call volume contributing to burnout among staff, and an inability to provide the coverage needed. Since he took the helm, Platz set out to change that.
The city was awarded a three-year, $1,013,539 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency called Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response. It will pay for the next phase of the Fire Department's staffing plan, which calls for the hiring of three full-time firefighters, according to a news release from North Liberty.
The new hires will cover a 24-hour schedule, allowing the city to always have one full-time firefighter on duty. These positions will supervise the two part-time firefighters that staff the fire station overnight, creating a crew of three each night. The addition of these positions will increase the department’s deployment reliability and reduce response times.
The news release said the goal of SAFER is to enhance local fire departments’ abilities to comply with staffing, response and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association.
This award comes on the heels of a FEMA recruitment and retention grant that the department received in 2019. That grant was for $358,206, has a four-year performance period, and is used to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.
Platz is going on his fifth year as North Liberty's fire chief after spending many years with the Iowa City Fire Department. He said North Liberty has been "the challenge" that he needed because of the switch from a career fire department like Iowa City's to one that is largely dependent on volunteers or "pay-per-call" firefighters.
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Platz was also on Solon's fire department for some years, giving him experience as a volunteer. Solon is finishing its new fire department headquarters after a 2021 ballot question to fund its construction.
"I always knew I wanted to be a firefighter. It was always something that was part of me," Platz said. "This position gave me a great opportunity because it was a volunteer fire department for the most part, that needed to grow into a combination fire department in the near future."
NLFD currently employs two people full time, Platz and a training officer, who both respond to calls in addition to administrative work. It also employs three assistant chiefs who work quarter time and work as fire marshals and grant writers; 14 part-time positions that work overnight hours; and 37 volunteer firefighters.
That is up from the 50 employees the fire department had in 2020, according to its website.
Platz said the future of the NLFD has to include the volunteers on staff if it wants to be successful.
"We can manage a little bit longer until we get full time to augment that part time, which we will be able to do with the SAFER grant," Platz said.
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Grant could help North Liberty Fire Department address response times
Platz said, when the city went through its strategic planning process a few years ago, residents asked that his department achieve faster response times while dealing with the myriad calls that come in.
"That told us the community wants us to turn out and get there quickly and they want trained firefighters to take care of whatever problem they may have," Platz said.
In 2020, NLFD responded to 1,477 calls. That jumped in 2021 to 1,648, an 11.6% increase.
Platz said that can be attributed to North Liberty's growth, but also mutual aid to neighbors in Solon, Tiffin and Coralville, who are also growing at rapid rates. He said the majority of calls that NLFD responds to are medical emergencies, making up 57% of the calls in 2021. Fires made up 5% of calls and false alarms accounted for 10%.
Platz said the NLFD sometimes finds itself in the position of having to wait for more first responders, depending on the call type. While the two part-timers who staff overnight can be relied on for medical emergencies and a basic fire alarm investigation, Platz said adding a third will help them respond to fires, motor vehicle accidents or technical rescues.
"We believe that for those types of calls, a three-person truck is the minimum," Platz said. "I don't feel it's safe to send two people out in a fire truck for a working fire. That just sets them up for failure."
Platz said it also helps the city respond faster because the two part-timers may be waiting at the station for 7-10 minutes for volunteers to arrive. He said the city's large footprint, its growth and traffic control lights cause volunteers to have to traverse longer routes to get to the station.
"(The full-time position) allows that truck to roll right now. That's what we're really excited about," Platz said.
Platz said the three full-time firefighters will be assigned to the current station, where he said the call volume is the highest.
"As we look to build a facility out in the western part of town and the community develops out that way, we're seeing increased call volume in the west and in the southwest. That is one of the things that tells us where that fire station needs to be," Platz said.
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North Liberty putting the brakes on west side fire station to talk with neighborhood
The land for the proposed fire station on the west side is north of St. Andrews Drive and Centennial Park, adjacent to a single-family home subdivision. The North Liberty City Council voted in favor of starting negotiations with the landowner to possibly use eminent domain the acquire the property in July.
Platz said the city is still negotiating with the landowner, but the hurdle now is talking with the surrounding neighborhood about how the new fire station will impact the area. Platz said the city is putting the brakes on negotiations with the landowner to meet with residents.
"We're going to meet with any neighbor that wants to meet and talk about how we got there, why that spot and why it's important to be in that location, just so they know the background and we can answer any questions they have," Platz said.
He said he doesn't want to come into a neighborhood and not be welcomed.
Platz said planning a new fire station involves looking at the city's boundaries, the neighbors, where calls for service are coming from, surrounding roadways and other factors to determine the best location.
Platz said the west side fire station is intended to be staffed by volunteer firefighters at first. He said it would be great if North Liberty hires more full-time firefighters for the station when it opens in 4-5 years, but that is not something he sees happening in the near term.
"We will start it as a pay-per-call station and grow that into starting some part time and down the road adding some full time," Platz said.
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