For calls in the two fire districts in the city, the Hollister
Fire Department averages a response time of four minutes and 16
seconds, according to Chief Fred Cheshire. When
”
mutual aid
”
calls are added into the average, when the city helps county
firefighters, the average comes out to four minutes, 29
seconds.
HOLLISTER
For calls in the city, the Hollister Fire Department averages a response time of 3 minutes, 28 seconds for one station and 5 minutes, 4 seconds for another, Fire Chief Fred Cheshire told the Free Lance.
When “mutual aid” calls are added into the average, when the city helps county firefighters, the overall average comes out to 4 minutes, 29 seconds.
“It’s a good average response time,” Cheshire said.
The Union Road station, No. 2, has the lower average response times, while the downtown station No. 1 has the higher average response times, Cheshire confirmed.
These numbers come from records for all calls that the fire department responded to beginning Jan. 1 through today, not including calls to which firefighters were attending.
The response times for firefighters is important because of a phenomenon called flashover, which can occur within seven minutes of a fire breaking out. Within that time frame, the fire can leave the point of origin and spread to other areas of a home or business and cause “substantial damage to property,” Cheshire said.
“That’s why the response time is important.”
While the response time as a whole is “good,” there are certain areas of the city that are over the average.
“We still do have some areas of the city that we have extended times to,” said Hollister Fire Chief Fred Cheshire. “We’re trying to get our resources to the scene within five minutes.”
With the goal of trying to get to a scene within five minutes, the two areas in town that the department has been “having difficulty meeting the five minutes” are the western and northern edges of Hollister.
For the full story, see the Free Lance on Tuesday. Also, in the next installment of Hello Hollister on Monday at www.freelancenews.com, a collector of fire engines and other fire industry antiques will be featured.
