FY25 Proposed Budget

Iowa City Fire Department Statistics

Why We Exist: The mission of the Iowa City Fire Department is to protect our community by providing progressive, high quality emergency and preventive services.

General Fire Data

Performing a comparative analysis between local jurisdictions is an imperfect process. Data is influenced by differences in definitions, reporting, and collection measures. It must be noted that it is important to focus on the trends in the data rather than any one specific data point, the trend in the data is the most valuable information provided. Broadly speaking, the physical, political, and demographic characteristics of each reporting jurisdiction influence performance. Examples include unusually good or bad weather, major budget cuts, and median household income. Citizen preferences, council or board priorities, local tax resources, and state ‐ imposed spending limits cause additional variation in the resources available for providing fire and EMS services. More specifically, some of the factors that influence the comparability of fire and EMS data are: Building stock —Industrial structures are more likely to be involved in fire or hazardous materials events. Older structures are less likely to meet current fire codes or to be equipped with fire detection and suppression systems. High ‐ rise structures may pose additional challenges. Geography —Street layout, terrain, the fire/EMS station locations, and traffic flow can significantly impact the ability for one jurisdiction to achieve the same level of service as another. Staffing —Jurisdictions can vary in the numbers assigned per fire apparatus, the minimum scheduled to work each day, the percentage of sworn vs. civilian staff, and the percentage of volunteers. Scope —Jurisdictions have varying levels of EMT-medical services offered by fire departments. The three levels are first responder, paramedic provisional and full paramedic EMS. Cost of service may vary depending on the degree to which different departments perform EMS services.

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