County : Board OKs System to Cut Fire Response Time

The Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed Tuesday to spend $2.26 million on a computerized dispatching system for the county Fire Department.

Calling it a “very progressive move,” Supervisor Bruce Nestande said the system is expected to shave a critical 70 seconds off emergency response times and eventually provide instantaneous information to the department’s hazardous waste team at the scene of emergencies.

Cutting the average time it takes to dispatch firefighters from 90 to 20 seconds is “significant in that a fire doubles in size every 18 seconds,” fire officials said in a report on the project.

The complex system--which will include relay stations, a central computer, terminals in emergency vehicles and sophisticated software developed solely for the county--also is expected to extend the range that can be served by individual fire stations.

Battalion Chief Patrick L. Walker said the system will be in place in “15 to 18 months.” Final contract terms still are under negotiation with Public Research Corp. of Huntington Beach.

In the planning stage since 1978, the system will have computers linking directly with mobile digital terminals, speeding up the location of available equipment and its dispatch to the site of an emergency, said Walker, head of the Fire Department’s communications division.

When a caller dials 911, dispatch operators will only have to key in the type of emergency and confirm addresses. Hazardous material disclosure ordinance information will be added to the computer data as it is received. Another feature available to firefighters will be maps showing where the toxic materials are stored.