Bend Fire explains Tumalo operations after concern voiced over response time

Rural community just got new fire station in recent months

(Update: Adding comments from Bend Fire Battalion Chief Trish Connolly)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Following an escaped field burn in Tumalo last week that spread to about three acres, a community member expressed concern about how long it took for firefighters to respond to the fire. 

Marie Kitchen, who lives in Tumalo, told NewsChannel 21 she knew about the nearby fire station, and she expected a fire crew to get to the scene before the flames spread farther.

However, Kitchen said, when one of the firefighters arrived, he told her he had driven to Tumalo all the way from a Bend station.

Kitchen, a neighbor of the property involved, said she is concerned about the impact slow response times and a small fire staff will have during the upcoming wildfire season.

Bend Fire Battalion Chief Trish Connolly told NewsChannel 21 Tuesday the Tumalo fire crew had been responding to a separate critical-care call at the time of the escaped field burn last week.

Connolly said the Tumalo station is staffed 24/7 with three firefighters, and it's been that way even before the new station was built.

But she also said Bend Fire & Rescue does not have room in its budget for new hires and won't be adding more firefighters to its stations, for now. The department currently has a class of nine newly hired firefighters who are replacing nine retirees.

Connolly said the majority of the calls they respond to are medical-related, as the department provides the only ambulance service in Bend.

"I think sometimes there’s a misconception we only respond on fire calls, but we’re running on medical calls as well, and that’s actually the bulk of what we do," Connolly said.

Connolly said last year, they responded to about 11,500 calls. She said on average, that translates to about 32 calls a day. That includes a mix of medical and fire response calls.

She said nothing at the Tumalo station has changed, aside from the addition of the new facility.

"Our stations look big, but usually we just have two crews in here, which is five people," Connolly said.

Bend Fire & Rescue opened its new northeast Bend fire station by Pilot Butte in January. The new Tumalo station, which replaced an older facility, opened in December. 

"We like to think our fire stations are in sort of a wheel on the outskirts of town," Connolly said. "Station 306 (the new station by the Bend Police Department) is the hub. So just by having two crews there in the middle of Bend, we believe we’ll reduce response times."

All of the fire stations in Bend, including the new Tumalo station, are owned by the rural fire district and leased to the city. Funding for the station is provided by the Deschutes Rural Fire Protection District No. 2.