BY DANICA LLOYD
The outlook
Looking ahead
The department’s goal is to have at least 35 people on duty daily across its eight fire stations. About 30% of the time, crews are responding to more than one call simultaneously. Natural disasters pose bigger challenges, with the department running a month’s worth of calls in the first 48 hours of Hurricane Beryl last June, he said. The KFD staffs 150 part-time, 36 full-time and 60 volunteer firefighters. Catrambone said officials continue to hire and train to keep up with demand.
In addition to facing higher costs for personnel and their benefits, officials are upgrading fire stations originally designed for volunteers to suit full- time staff better. Equipment expenses have also grown. “Now it takes between four and five years from the time we order a fire truck to get it. … So we’re already planning past 2030 with apparatus replacement, and some of that has to be ordered within the next year,” Catrambone said. “So it’s planning that out and knowing what’s going on and making sure we’re ordering the right stuff for what’s going to be here then.” Registered voters within the KFD’s boundaries can vote for or against the proposed tax rate cap increase on May 3 at the ESD 16 administrative building, 18606 Stuebner Airline Road, Klein.
The Spring Fire Department responded to more calls in its slightly larger territory in 2024, but its call volume increased by about 21.77% since 2020 while the KFD has seen call volume nearly double in that time. KFD officials said they predict that number will keep growing. Catrambone said the department’s territory has added 6,000 apartment units over the past decade with more on the way, leading to a denser popula- tion as well as more vehicle traffic.
Annual call volume
Klein Fire Department
Spring Fire Department
+21.77%
6K 8K 4K 2K 0
+37.06%
+91.7%
+35.3%
2015
2016
2017
2018 2019 2020 2021
2022
2023
2024
SOURCES: KLEIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, SPRING FIRE DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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