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City Council Minutes <br />September 4, 2018 <br />Page 10 <br />Mayor Dietz also asked about the distance the fire chief should live from Elk River. <br />Mr. Pormer stated the fire chief is not a first responder. <br />Acting Fire Chief Surratt clarified if a first responder is needed for a medical <br />dispatch, only one person responds, which saves money. The question is what the <br />Council wants for its fire protection services. Since Elk River does not have a full- <br />time fire department, only three staff members are required to respond, the <br />remainder are volunteer. <br />Mr. Cunningham, who was in the audience, added MN Statutes state the fire chief <br />must live within a reasonable response time. Throughout Minnesota, 20-30 minutes <br />is a benchmark among similar organizations. The fire chief is not a first responder <br />out the door. <br />Mayor Dietz wanted there to be some response time requirement. He stated it <br />should be the same as the assistant fire chief, which is 25 minutes. <br />Mayor Dietz wants the statement regarding serving as an incident commander put <br />back into the job description. He feels the fire chief doesn't need to go to all <br />incidents, but they can't go to none of them. <br />Councilmember Westgaard added the fire chief shouldn't be expected to be at every <br />incident. However, if the chief is at the scene, they are expected to take command. <br />Acting Fire Chief Surratt commented that was the way incident command works, the <br />command rolls "uphill" and people take command as they arrive. This is not <br />necessary for every incident. <br />Councilmember Westgaard asked if there was a fear that, by taking the incident <br />commander requirement out of the job description, the fire chief would not know it <br />was their job to show up at a fire scene. <br />Mayor Dietz added he doesn't want the fire chief to seem detached from his team. <br />Councilmember Westgaard asked when the department becomes big enough that <br />you don't need to be involved in every scene and can look at the big picture. <br />Mayor Dietz said Elk River was not nearly big enough for that level of <br />administration. The fire chief should interact with the firefighter volunteers and <br />maintain good working relationships with the department. <br />Mr. Portner said that is the reason they hired the deputy chief of operations. <br />Councilmember Wagner did not feel she had enough experience in this area to give <br />an educated opinion. She prefers to take feedback from people who do. <br />1R1[RtR 0 <br />MATURE <br />