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Page 16 <br />NFPA 1710 defines an effective firefighting force (EFF) as the number of <br />firefighters and fire apparatus with equipment required to mitigate a fire or <br />another emergency within a survivable time frame. Flashover is the point where a <br />fire engulfs a room and generally occurs six to eight minutes after ignition. After <br />flashover, survivability drops steeply. Therefore, NFPA 1710 requires that the <br />effective firefighting force be assembled within eight minutes after receipt of the <br />alarm. See Figure 1 in this report that illustrates the significance of responding <br />within eight minutes. <br />An effective firefighting force consists of fifteen to seventeen firefighters and <br />officers, plus their equipment. If an aerial is needed, seventeen firefighters are <br />required, otherwise, fifteen. Long experience has shown that these numbers are <br />needed to accomplish the tasks required for successful fire suppression in a <br />survivable time frame. If the fire companies are staffed at four (one officer and <br />three firefighters), three engines, a ladder, and a command officer comprise the <br />effective firefighting force. If the fire companies are staffed at three (one officer <br />and two firefighters), the EFF will be comprised of four engines, a ladder, and a <br />command officer. <br />Successful emergency response requires not only firefighters but appropriate <br />equipment. Today, eighty to ninety percent of the calls for service American <br />firefighters respond to are medical emergencies. However, they must be trained <br />and prepared to respond to one hundred percent of emergencies, not just the <br />majority. And that requires having all the tools and equipment necessary when <br />they arrive on a scene, regardless of what they may have been told to expect. <br />For example, a fire company may respond to a wreck on an interstate, having <br />been told there are injuries. But when they arrive, one of the vehicles may be on <br />fire. Not having the ability to extinguish the fire in addition to rendering medical <br />aid would be a terrible — and embarrassing - service delivery failure. In addition, a <br />fire company may be required to go from one emergency to another; having to <br />return to the station for the necessary equipment would cause a delayed <br />response, another service delivery failure. For these reasons, fire departments <br />equip, staff, and dispatch fire engines on all types of calls. <br />• The Public Protection Classification (PPC) program administered by the <br />Insurance Services Office (ISO) is the oldest and perhaps the most familiar to <br />city managers and administrators. Using the PPC measures, ISO evaluates a <br />community's public fire protection capability and assigns a protection class rating <br />from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents exemplary fire protection; a Class 10 rating <br />indicates that a community's fire suppression program does not meet ISO's <br />minimum criteria. ISO evaluates all resources required for fire suppression to <br />establish a rating, including available water supply, call taking and dispatching <br />Tukwila Fire Department — Station Location Study <br />June 2017 <br />