CASE STUDY

Case Study

Case Study

Like many cities? Wilmington is faced with a stagnant or declining tax base and an increasing demand for services. The mayor is committed to providing the necessary city services in the most efficient manner. One of the first problems faced by the new administration when it took office in 1973 was what to do about implementing the recommendations of an earlier study that would have required replacing all but one of the existing firehouses. The cost of carrying out these recommendations had climbed drastically since the time of the study. In order to obtain technical assistance on this problem? the city contacted The New York City-Rand Institute? which had a contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to test its models in a number of cities.

Wilmington was subsequently chosen by the Institute and HUD as one of the test cities? and a project team was formed consisting of Institute staff? City administrative personnel? and Bureau of Fire personnel. Each group brought a different perspective and set of objectives to the problem: Rand was interested in demonstrating that the methodology developed and applied in New York City could help local officials in other cities make deployment decisions? and that the models could be easily used by local government personnel; the City administration was interested in determining whether a new deployment plan with fewer firehouses was feasible and how such a plan could be implemented; and the Bureau of Fire was interested in maintaining the existing high quality level of fire protection provided in Wilmington and in finding the best locations for new fire- houses.

The project was performed in four stages. The results of each of the stages are presented in this report.

Data were gathered and analyzed for use in the mathematical models and in the evaluation of deployment alternatives.

The current pattern of fire company travel times throughout the city was determined.

A gross determination was made of what regions in the city should lose companies if companies were to be eliminated and how the remaining companies should be allocated in regions of the city using the Institute's Parametric Allocation Model.

Specific locations for new firehouses were evaluated using the Institute's Firehouse Site Evaluation Model

These efforts have led to several important results :

One of Wilmington's original nine engine companies was eliminated? producing an estimated saving of $240?000 per year with no loss of firemen's jobs and no perceptible education ...