Time 4 Station 4

HomeFire • Station 4

Time 4 Station 4


1 - Why Station 4 is Vital

  • The need to maintain our level of service as our City continues to grow.
  • To respond to the increase in the call volume for our Fire Department.
  • To address the increase of our wildland-urban interface along our foothills.

2 - Location

Layton City Station 4 is planned to be located near 1400 North Valley View Drive. This will be Layton City’s fourth station. Thanks to our City’s planning and anticipation of this need, it will be built on vacant land that the City of Layton previously acquired.

Several years ago, Layton City identified an area of the City that experiences the longest response time from current station locations. The area was identified as the north/south stretch along the Highway 89 corridor from Sunset Drive to the Kaysville border, and west into the subdivisions above Emerald Drive. And of additional concern are those subdivisions east of Highway 89 in our wildland-urban interface areas. While this vicinity does not represent the highest call volume area in the City, it does represent the portion of the City with a higher fire loss potential and the longest response times for emergency medical services (EMS).

As many of the calls are centered in and around the most populated areas, the Fire Department experiences a longer response time to the easternmost portion of the City. The average citywide "emergent" response time for both Fire and EMS is just over six minutes, while the average "non-urgent" response time is just over seven and a half minutes. The 2018 response times to the identified area were just under nine minutes, a significant increase from our average response time in the City. Construction of Station 4 would decrease response times in this area to a 4-6 minute average, reducing average citywide response times as well.

After identifying this as an area most at risk, the City began researching potential sites to locate a new fire station. Included in this decision were the changes to Highway 89, transforming it into a limited access roadway, and what impact that would have on our Fire and EMS responses in this area.

In providing Fire & EMS services, minutes can reduce fire growth and spread in both residential and wildland emergencies, and can mean the difference in life-and-death medical emergencies. Station 4 provides the Fire Department expedited response to our most at-risk portion of the City and provides additional emergency services to respond elsewhere in the City during peak 911 request times.

LEVEL OF SERVICE

  • Population levels at the time fire stations were built:
      1st Station 2nd Station 3rd Station Station 4
    Year Built 1970 1994 1998 2020
    Population 13,603 49,494 57,000 78,000
    City Revenue $7,146,035 $13,347,725 $14,062,496 $32,730,845
    City Property Tax Revenue $1,852,893 $2,904,728 $3,729,781 $6,943,445
    Percentage of Revenue 25.93% 21.76% 26.52% 21.21%
    Property Tax Rate 0.2947% 0.2818% 0.2176% 0.1424%

CALL VOLUME

  • In 1981, Layton City began a full-time service Fire Department and responded to less than 1,000 incidents. By 1994, Layton City began providing ambulance transport services, and response to incidents increased to 1,829 and by 1998 to 2,425. In 2001, paramedic rescue service was added. The 2018 call volume was 6,411 incidents and it is fully expected that by the end of 2019 there will be more than 7,000 emergency response incidents. As the City continues to add new citizens and businesses, and as the number of those traveling through our City continues to grow, we are confident that 911 requests will outpace the current 4-5% increase rate the Fire Department is now experiencing, affecting our ability to continue meeting the desired service level and response time.

WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE

  • The wildland urban interface (WUI) is considered the commercial and residential development next to forest service property – where the City meets the mountains. For Layton City, our latest estimate of homes in the WUI is approximately 4,800 with a population of over 19,000.