The City Council held a study session last night to receive the findings of a recent analysis conducted on the efficiency of fire services in Union City and to discuss amendments to the City's contract with the Alameda County Fire Department. An independent analysis was conducted by the Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM) to examine calls for service data in Union City to understand if the deployment of fire department resources were effective and cost-efficient in providing fire and medical response to Union City residents. The analysis determined that Fire Station 30 located at the border of Union City and Fremont is underutilized in Union City and is not needed. Fire Station 30 is located at 35000 Eastin Court.
Staff recommended that the City Council consider closing Fire Station 30 and 4-1 vote confirmed that direction.
The City Council also directed staff to coordinate with the cities of Newark, Hayward and Fremont to explore the option of potentially reopening Fire Station 30 in the future as a part of a shared services model. As a part of its next steps, the City will convene a team to develop a plan, a timeline and a community outreach process associated with the closure of Fire Station 30.
Background:
The City contracted with the Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM) in October 2018 after the City Council’s Fiscal Stability Committee directed staff to study and evaluate the delivery of fire services in Union City with the goal of determining ways to reduce the rising cost of the fire services contract while balancing service demands.
The purpose of Tuesday night’s study session was to present the results of the independent analysis conducted by CPSM. In addition, the Alameda County Fire Department presented the findings of a report from a 2017 study that was conducted by CityGate Associates, LLC to review the adequacy of current fire station resource deployment system for areas served by the Alameda County Fire Department, the risks to be protected, and the emergency incident outcomes desired by the community.
The CPSM report focused on deployment of fire services to Union City; whereas, the CityGate Associates, LLC report examined the standards of coverage throughout Alameda County.