43 / 260
29
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EMS calls for the year totaled 3,326 (60 percent of all calls), an average of 9.1 per day.
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Fire calls for the year totaled 1,177 (21 percent of all calls), an average of 3.2 per day.
Fires
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Structure and outside fires combined for a total of 192 calls during the year, an average of
one call every 1.9 days.
■
A total of 28 structure fire calls accounted for 2 percent of the fire calls, with 82 percent of
these occurring in SSCCFD’s coverage area.
■
A total of 164 outside fire calls accounted for 14 percent of the fire calls, with 65 percent of
these occurring in SSCCFD’s coverage area.
■
Public service calls were the largest fire call category, making up 35 percent of the fire calls.
■
False alarm calls made up 29 percent of the fire calls.
During our period of evaluation, CAL FIRE responded to a total of 28 incidents that were
classified as structure fires, the majority of which (82 percent) were in the SSCCFD service area
and only 5 (18 percent) of which were in the City. In looking in more detail at the structure fire
incidents, it was determined that for five of these events there was
no fire damage
reported to
the structure involved. When we looked at the time spent on fire incidents, we found that on 9 of
the 28 structure fires and 77 of the 164 outside fires, the call duration for these incidents was 60
minutes or less. This is indicative of minor occurrences. However, 19 structure fire calls saw a
duration of greater than one hour; 11 lasted for more than two hours. This would indicate more
significant events.
There were 22 structure fires in which some degree of fire damage was noted in the incident
report (18 District, 3 City). The total fire loss (structure and contents) for all structural fires in 2015
was estimated to be $2,851,360 ($2,831,300 District, $20,060 City). Fire damage estimates are
done by CAL FIRE personnel who have received fire investigation training. For the calls in which
damage was reported (structure and contents), we have estimated that the average damage
incurred for each fire was approximately $101,834. NFPA estimates that in 2012 the average fire
loss in the nation for a structure fire was $20,345.
12
From this perspective the average fire loss in
Morgan Hill/SSCCFD is much higher than that rate found in many communities across the nation.
Though the frequency of structure fires found was not exceptionally high, the amount of fire loss
was much higher than the national average. It is important to note that on one fire, there was a
combined structure and content loss of $1,318,700. If this one fire was removed from the overall
fire loss figures, the average loss per incident would drop to approximately $56,756.
It was also very interesting in comparing the average fire loss for structure fires (including
contents and structural damage) between the City and District. In the City the average loss for
its four structure fires was $5,015. In the District, for the 23 structure fires with reported fire loss, the
average was $123,972. Even if we removed the one major fire loss from this total, the average
fire loss would still be $51,348. Another indication of the fire loss evaluation is the frequency of
individual events in which the combined loss exceeds $20,000. The $20,000 demarcation is
relevant from two perspectives; first, this is the national average as indicated earlier and second,
it indicates a fire loss that from CPSM’s perspective is representative of a more significant fire
event that requires extinguishment. In the period evaluated, there were nine structure fire events
(all in the District) in which the combined fire loss exceeded $20,000. In the city, there were no
structure fires in which the combine fire loss exceeded the $20,000 threshold.
12
Michael J. Karter Jr.,
Fire Loss in the United States during 2012
, NFPA September 2013, 13.