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The Daily Tar Heel

Firefighters look to Chapel Hill 2020 for guidance

Chapel Hill’s signature Carolina blue fire trucks do more than just fight fire — and Fire Chief Dan Jones wants to figure out what other services the town wants the department to provide.

The town’s current comprehensive plan does not include what additional services the fire department should offer or how it should spend its $6.9 million budget.

But members of the department are working with Chapel Hill 2020 — the town’s long-term planning process — to create a more definite idea of what the fire department’s role should be.

“What we’re hoping comes out of 2020 is a clearer expectation of what the community wants,” Jones said.

In addition to fighting fires, the fire department provides environmental protection, rescue service, disaster management, fire code enforcement and first-responder services for medical emergencies.

“Just about anything that doesn’t involve crimes ends up involving the fire department,” Jones said.

He said the department chooses what services to provide based on professional advice.

One of the services the department chooses to offer is first responders’ emergency medical assistance, which responds to emergency situations within the town and is not required by law.

Emergency medical services are provided by Orange County, but Jones said it takes Chapel Hill first responders only four minutes to respond to calls, while the county takes about 17 minutes.

“We don’t have to provide that service, and it’s expensive. I think the community wants that, but I’ve never heard that,” Jones said.

The Carrboro Fire-Rescue Department and the Orange Rural Fire Department, which serves the Hillsborough area, also provide emergency medical services.

The Carrboro Fire Department decides which services to provide based on a strategic plan formed by staff, which is based on risk analysis and reviewed annually.

“We seek input from our firefighters, we seek input from the community, we look at the statistics and we’ll get input from the Board of Aldermen,” said Rick Cox, Carrboro deputy fire chief.

The Orange Rural Fire Department also decides on services like EMS and citizen rescue by analyzing risks and statistics, said Fire Chief Jeff Cabe.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.

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