The Falcon Fire Protection District held its regular monthly board meeting July 14. All board members were present. Richard Shearer, legal counsel for the district, did not attend the meeting but was available by phone. The July meeting had been rescheduled from July 20 to July 14 because of the boardís schedule.CorrespondenceFire Chief Trent Harwig reported that the district has received a formal request from Newport Center LLC to exclude three undeveloped parcels of land from the Falcon Fire Protection District. These parcels are located along the Marksheffel corridor and have been annexed by the city of Colorado Springs. Harwig said the developer plans to build about 100 residential structures on those parcels. An exclusion hearing will be scheduled once the districtís legal counsel has reviewed the request.Treasurerís reportHarwig reported that the fiscal year was 50 percent complete as of June 30. The district has received 69 percent of its anticipated revenue, while total expenditures are at 41 percent.A storm in late May caused hail damage to the Station 3 roof and skylights, as well as to the vehicles for the deputy chief and fire marshal. Repairs are being handled through insurance, Harwig said.The well pump at Station 2 had to be replaced. Because of a valve that was inadvertently shut off, the replacement pump also had to be replaced. The board discussed whether the district or the contractor was responsible for the valve issue and subsequent additional expense.Chiefís reportFFPD received a grant from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. The district will receive $10,998 to purchase 47 pairs of wildland firefighting boots for district personnel. Harwig said, while the district supplies turnout gear and other protective equipment to firefighters, it does not provide wildland boots. Harwig thanked FFPD Lt. Corey Kirt, who initiated the grant application.Incident statisticsFFPD responded to 174 alarms in June. The 2016 year-to-date total is 1,048 calls for service, which is a 6.9 percent increase over the same period in 2015.In June, the board had requested the statistical report, which examined the response zones and types of incidents that have contributed most to the districtís steady increase in annual call volume.Between 2011 and 2015, the districtís call volume increased by 18.2 percent. Of the districtís six response zones (also known as districts), District 1 saw the biggest increase in call volume, at 25.3 percent. District 2 had the smallest increase in call volume, with just 5.4 percent.The overall number of fires decreased by about 62 percent from 2005 to 2015. Part of the decrease in 2015 can be attributed to the way incidents are coded under the National Fire Incident Reporting System. In that same period, emergency medical calls increased by about 110 percent and traffic accidents increased by 26 percent.Based on a conservative average increase of 4 percent per year, along with factoring in the additional call volume that the district will absorb when Station 4 opens in 2017, FFPDís call volume is projected to be almost 2,700 in the year 2020, and more than 3,200 by 2025.
