‘Every minute counts’: How the city of Bend is preparing for emergencies in a growing community
(Update: adding comments from fire department, Bend mayor and city councilor)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Bend Fire & Rescue says it placed a new advanced life support ambulance into service on Monday. It's one of four that serve a 1,450-square-mile service area in Bend and the surrounding rural community.
The department has been operating with three ambulances for the past five to six years.
In 2024, Bend Fire & Rescue saw nearly 14,000 calls for service – a record year for the department. Of those calls, 75% were medical.
“Last year, we responded to the most calls we ever have as a department. That higher call volume means we need more resources on the road to respond to emergencies,” said Fire Chief Todd Riley. “Our goal as a department is to decrease the time it takes for crews to respond to an emergency, and when crews are tied up on other calls, we can’t meet that goal.”
Bend Fire responds to an average of 30 to 50 calls per day.
Chief Deputy of EMS Drew Norris said Wednesday, "We look to respond to a call for service, an emergency call within six minutes and within the Rural Fire Protection District nine minutes."
Mayor Melanie Kebler calls the added ambulance an important milestone for the community.
"We don't always need to send a big fire truck to everything," Kebler said. "If there is a medical emergency, we want to send the right people, and having another ambulance crew is a great way to do that."
The new ambulance was brought into service with funding from an operating levy voters passed in May of 2023. Nearly $82 million from the levy is also being used by the fire department to fund additional responder positions, equipment and training.
Bend Fire also collaborates closely with the Deschutes County Rural Fire District.
Kebler said, "They actually also did a levy at the same time, which was great cooperation to make sure that we're getting the resources we need. We're always looking for grant opportunities and other things as well to help us defend that."
In addition to adding this ambulance to the Bend Fire fleet, the department recently graduated six new firefighter/paramedics from a training academy who have been integrated into stations around Bend.
Riley added, “Placing this crucial resource in service fully staffed will make a tangible difference in lowering response times and meeting a growing demand for service, which will hopefully lead to more positive patient outcomes for our community.”
The department emphasized the importance of preparedness, citing recent calls related to the Los Angeles wildfires as a reminder of the high demand for resources.
City Councilor Ariel Mendez said, "This is obviously on the top of people's minds, keeping our homes fire-safe, making sure that we have defensible space and things like that. You can call the fire department and have an audit, that's available as a service that the city provides."
Kebler said, "Unfortunately this happened in LAm and see what we can learn from it. But we have a great plan in place for us to continue to prepare."
The mayor highlighted that the city has its own emergency manager and works closely with the county and other partners on emergency preparedness. She added that they will continue to share information with the community on how individuals can be better prepared.
The city says the fire department is adequately funded but is still exploring grant opportunities to meet future needs. The operating levy is set for five years, and the city plans to seek voter approval for its renewal.