“We want to make sure people respond as quickly as possible from the fire station,” said Interim Fire Chief Jerry Streich. “Every minute does matter.”
When there’s a fire, the duty crew can be out the door immediately, putting them on the scene faster than someone being called in.
Streich says it can be a difference of ten to fifteen minutes. That’s a big difference when you talk about emergencies like a heart attack or a growing fire.
“They can start to do things to mitigate the incident while the rest of the crew, the neighboring communities, and that on call model are still coming to the station, and they can back them up,” said Streich.
Streich himself is back on the job after leaving Centennial in 2014 for the Andover Fire Department.
“It’s really nice to see that 90 per cent of the personnel are still here,” said Streich. “So the retention efforts of the fire district have worked really well.”
Part of Streich’s job is to oversee the department during this transition phase. A public safety consulting firm is studying the Centennial model.
“They’re going to compare our fire service model and everything that’s going on around us to maybe give the councils and the steering committee an idea of where to move forward.”
The consultant may have recommendations in the next three to four months.
