Average response time for the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department duty officer in 1999 was eight minutes, and 11 minutes for a fire engine. That's impressive, but the really critical time factor, according to PMVFD Assistant Chief Dennis Tjoelker, is the time from the start of the fire to the report of the fire. "That's an especially difficult challenge for us," Tjoelker says, "because so many mountain structures are unoccupied much of the time." An unoccupied structure is often fully involved by the time firefighters arrive.
"When that happens, we need to focus on protecting nearby structures and keeping the fire from spreading," Tjoelker adds. "In our mountain environment every fire is a threat to every other structure in the community."
Even when structures are occupied, a few minutes can make all the difference. Residents who attempt to fight their own fires before calling 9-1-1 often burn precious minutes that can make the difference between partial and complete loss. Tjoelker advises: "No matter how small the fire, call 9-1-1 first, then - only if it's safe - do what you can to contain the fire."
The second critical factor is water - having enough and getting it to the fire. The department's goal is to be able to arrive on scene with 4,000 gallons of water, the benchmark the Insurance Services Organization uses to assign a dwelling class 8 risk. (See "What is ISO and Why Do I Care" in the Spring 2000 issue of Hot Notes.) The department's current first-response engine carries 500 gallons of water and the new engine will carry 750. Firefighters must depend on water brought to the site by water tender. A portable water tank allows the department to deliver water to a fire by tender, dump it into the portable tank for use by firefighters on the scene and circle back to the department's water tank to refill and deliver another load.
"Bringing water to a fire will always be a challenge on the mountain," Tjoelker notes. Property owners can help, he says, by making sure their standby water tanks are full and available to firefighters at all times.