Joint session on growth

AIRWAY HEIGHTS — The city’s population growth has a natural effect on public safety. Recognizing this, the Planning Commission approved a letter to go to council requesting a joint meeting about the impacts that growth has on public safety at its Dec. 9 meeting.

The letter was written in close consultation with Fire Chief Mitch Metzger and Police Chief Brad Richmond, city planner Heather Trautman reported to the Planning Commission, as the commission had unanimously voted to do at its Nov. 12 meeting after a lengthy discussion about potential fire safety impacts on local residential developments.

The drafted letter, which hadn’t been officially signed by commission chair Kal Patel at press time despite Patel’s approval of the letter, included summaries from Metzger and Richmond of the impacts on public safety services in the last year.

“Call growth is estimated to be close to 10% higher in 2020 vs. 2019, with total calls nearing 2,200 for the year,” Metzger’s summary said, with a footnote indicating that Spokane County Fire District 10 handled an additional 87 calls for service that the city fire department weren’t on scene for. The 2,200 call figure doesn’t include those 87 District 10 calls.

As a result, the average response time for fire and EMS calls has increased to five minutes and 37 seconds.

Metzger’s summary includes three recommended mitigation steps for increase in response times and availability including initiating a fire impact fee, building a new fire station or public safety station and requiring sprinklers for all new construction, including residential construction.

Present city building codes require sprinklers on commercial developments and apartment buildings, but not on single-family developments.

“Studies show sprinkler systems reduce damage by isolating fires and water to smaller areas,” Metzger’s summary said. “Homes without sprinklers require 10 times more water on average to extinguish a fire.”

The summary added that deaths in homes on fire reduce by 81% in sprinkled homes, and firefighter injury is reduced by 80%.

“Average cost for residential sprinklers ranges from $1.50 to $2.50 per square foot,” the summary said.

Richmond shared that the police department’s call volume has increased to 12,263 this year from 8,505 in 2019-an increase of 3,758 increase.

“I will need to have further investigators and officers to manage the investigations and ever growing call load that has come with expansion and growth of all the properties,” Richmond’s summary said.

Trautman estimated that a potential meeting with City Council wouldn’t happen until the new year, as council is presently busy with approving the 2021 budget and figuring out the process of replacing Mayor Kevin Richey, whose October resignation is official on Dec. 31.

Drew Lawson can be reached at [email protected].