In the past two decades, the city of San Marcos’ population has increased by more than 80%; the population increase has subsequently led to an increase in call volume.
“There’s been a lot of growth both in the city and out in the county, and I can see where it’s taking a toll on the development of the city’s infra- structure and the city’s emergency services versus our city services out in the county,” Kunz said. Getting ahead The staffing struggle has been a nationwide issue, San Marcos fire Chief Les Stephens said, and San Mar- cos is no exception. “Due to the growth, especially in Texas, there’s a lot more demand,” Stephens said. “When I came to San Marcos in 2009, we had a staff of about 54 firefighters total. Today, we’re at 101.” While the San Marcos Fire Depart- ment has seen a “significant increase” in staffing over the years, it is still understaffed by around 24 people, Stephens added. “The pipeline, unfortunately, just hasn’t increased proportionately to supply [to] meet that need,” Ste- phens said. In 2010, when the city of San Mar- cos’ population was around 44,000, based on U.S. Census Bureau data, the department received a total of 2,930 calls. By 2021, with a popula- tion of around 68,500, the calls tri- pled to 8,931. Additionally, from 2020 to 2021 alone, there was a 48.84% increase. “Where we have longer response times isn’t because we don’t have people regularly assigned. … It’s just because the city has grown away from its core, and we haven’t built the stations to address that growth yet,” Stephens said. The average response time in 2022 was just under eight and a half min- utes, Stephens said. “The time the dispatcher answers the phone … until the fire appara- tus pulls up in front of your house is
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The San Marcos Fire Department saw a 48.83% increase in calls from 2020-21. The most calls were for EMS and rescue with 2021 up 32.2% from 2020.
2010 2011
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
2022
SOURCES: NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION, SAN MARCOS FIRE DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Increases in insurance
roughly eight minutes, and that’s not bad. It could be a little better, but it’s not bad for a total overall response time,” Stephens said. He added there are plans to expand the fire station network in the city, and some are close to fruition, but there is not funding secured for all of them. There are at least four potential fire stations in the works throughout the city to accommodate the growth and future developments. Three of the four future stations are targeted to the outskirts of San Marcos with one set to be centrally located on East MLK Drive. Additional stations farther from the city’s core will not only help with response times, but also homeowners insurance rates tied to those times. The Insurance Services Office is one of the companies responsible for evaluating all the fire stations in the nation based on a station’s water supply, dispatch, calls, staff- ing and station locations, among other criteria. The Public Protection Classification program has a ranked scale from 1-10, 1 meaning there is superior property fire protection and 10 meaning the community’s fire
protection does not meet the mini- mum criteria, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. Areas that are more than 5 miles away from a fire station automatically receive a 10. ISO aims to evaluate stations every 10 years, Stephens said, to assess the area’s growth and ensure the departments are providing adequate resources to the city. San Marcos was last evaluated in 2015 and earned a rating of 2 in most areas of the city. Some areas are rated 2X, meaning the properties are located farther than 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant. Some areas are rated a 10 as they are too far from a fire station. “You would see a pretty signifi- cant, probably a 4-7%, increase in your homeowners rate because of the location of your home and the lack of adequate fire protection,” Ste- phens said. Ultimately, additional stations and staffing will aim to decrease response times and help keep the city’s rating reasonable.
Fire departments and communities are evaluated every 10 years to determine their Public Protection Classification. They are rated 1-10: 1 means there is superior fire protection and 10 means the fire protection efforts do not meet the criteria.
Ratings
The system in place has a dispatch center, fire department and water supply. 1-8
The system includes a dispatch center and fire department but is low among water criteria.
8B
The system includes a dispatch center and a fire department but does not meet minimum water supply.
9
Areas receive an automatic 10 if they are farther than 5 miles
away from a fire station. 10
These are added to properties that are 5 miles from a station, but more than 1,000 feet of a credible water source.
X
The city of San Marcos is rated 2 with a few areas rated 2X and 10.
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE/ COMMUNITY IMPACT
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