By Cecilia Chan
East Valley Tribune
MESA, Ariz. 鈥� Mesa Fire and Medical Department last year responded to 72,135 calls for service just inside the city or about 198 calls a day.
In order to keep fire trucks rolling and ambulances running, the department is looking to spend $162 million in the fiscal year that begins July The proposed budget is about 6.7% higher than the spending plan in place.
The department, with 760-plus employees, generally sees calls increase by a couple of thousand each year, according to officials. The department is the third largest in the state and serves 138 square miles.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a busy department but we鈥檙e doing all we can to mitigate those calls as well,鈥� said Chief Mary Cameli at the April 10 council study session. 鈥淪ome of the things we do on a regular basis is first of all, and we call this upstream management, we try to prevent the call from happening.
鈥淎nd fire prevention, they鈥檙e out there every day doing inspections trying to reduce the number of fires that we have out there. We have our public education that鈥檚 out there educating on CPR, educating on falls, educating on all these different things that will prevent injury.鈥�
Of the calls that came into the department last year, 84%, or 60,000, were for medical help, according to Cameli, adding, 鈥渁 lot of these calls are very serious and people鈥檚 lives truly depend on the care that we provide.鈥�
Assistant Chief Forrest Smith detailed the department鈥檚 efforts in helping reduce 911 calls.
For instance, a responding fire crew to a residence may see the need for grab bars in the bathroom and contact the department鈥檚 social services division, which then comes out and install them, according to Smith.
鈥淚n cases like that we found that we鈥檝e had reductions of about 64%, where we鈥檙e taking at least 40 calls out of the system for just preventing the fall injuries,鈥� Smith said.
The department鈥檚 social services division also tackle repeat 911 callers. 鈥淭hese are the folks that give us a call and reuse services at least three times in a 90-day period of time,鈥� Smith said.
If there is a trend, the department will do intervention such as connecting them with a nonprofit or a social welfare program.
Smith indicated that for November, 鈥渨e took 45% of the calls out of the system.鈥�
鈥淚magine you have 100 calls,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e were able to take 40 calls out of the system and decreasing it to 60 calls 鈥� that鈥檚 just for the high utilizers.鈥�
While firefighters and paramedics help keep Mesa safe, the department is doing what it can to ensure workforce wellness.
The department鈥檚 one request in the proposed budget is $493,094 for cancer screenings, according to Tara Acuna, deputy fire director. Firefighters have a significantly higher risk for cancer due to their exposure to smoke and hazardous chemicals.
Future plans for cancer prevention include recharge rooms and decontamination washing machines for the self-contained breathing apparatus packs, Acuna said.
The funding for the department鈥檚 emergency transport services or ambulances is proposed at $22.5 million, up from $15.7 million the year prior. Mesa, like other municipalities in the Valley, opted to take ambulance operations in-house due to the instability among the private providers.
The department commenced full operation of this service in March with 23 ambulances after starting off with one transport unit in 2018.
In 2024, the department operated 15 ambulances and provided 26,500 transports. For 2025, the number of transports is expected to increase to 42,000.
鈥淲e were pushed by city management pretty hard to make sure we had a robust plan,鈥� Assistant Chief Cori Hayes said. 鈥淚n the end, I think the concerns played out pretty accurately.
鈥淲e were not planning to take on the entire system this March. We had initially planned to continue with our hybrid model with our private partners for another year or so but we were well-coached in planning for that as a contingent and it is what happened.鈥�
According to Hayes, the department has increased staffing to a total of 120 civilian paramedics and EMTs as well as 12 to 14 additional support staff and billers.
City Manager Chris Brady said Mesa eventually will be able to recover the initial outlay for the equipment.
The department also proposed cutting expenses by $3 million over three years.
For the 2025-26 fiscal year, it鈥檒l accomplish a $2 million reduction in spending by eliminating a pre-recruit position and reducing hiring by eight.
Most departments are tightening their budgets as the city grapples with lower revenue and higher operating costs.
鈥淲e did have programmed into the budget for this upcoming fiscal year the 25-26 fiscal year to hire eight additional firefighters to support a future unit,鈥� said Assistant Fire Chief John Locklin. 鈥淲e have a little time to figure out how we鈥檙e going to staff a second unit at Station 5鈥� located on Greenfield Road between Broadway Road and Southern Avenue.
鈥淲e do have existing resources, existing FTEs that we can look about optimizing where they are and how we鈥檙e using them.鈥�
The station, which has the highest call volume is scheduled for a rebuild. The plan is about 90% completed, according to Locklin.
He added that the department this budget year hired eight firefighters but needed more.
鈥淲e need 12 for an engine company for three shifts of four people,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have other resources we can look around to see how we鈥檙e going to identify another four people. That鈥檚 the goal and we know the budget challenges are what they are.鈥�
He said that the department鈥檚 response time of about nine minutes 90% of the time has been pretty flat over the last couple of years. But he anticipated that to improve as three new stations come on line in the near future with the Northeast Public Safety Facility on Power Road opening in the summer.
鈥淭he focus here is delivering that response in a very timely manner,鈥� Brady said. 鈥淛ust getting that truck to that location changes the world for someone.
鈥淩egardless of where you live in the City of Mesa, your experience could be very different, but it鈥檚 going to be less than 10 minutes that we鈥檙e going to show up. There are cities that are struggling that. That nine minutes is their 50% (of the time). The strategy we鈥檝e been able to deploy is being able to place these stations around the city so that we can be very strategic.鈥�
Vice Mayor Scott Somers asked how the department鈥檚 responses to county islands in Mesa affected its overall time to get to a call. Unincorporated areas in Mesa are in Maricopa County鈥檚 jurisdiction and served by Rural Metro with an annual subscription fee.
鈥淎re we responding a lot out there and what鈥檚 our contingency should they lose their service?鈥� asked Somers, a former firefighter. 鈥淎re we working on this? Because this has a fiscal impact on our budget.鈥�
Brady responded that the city was notified by the county that it was talking with residents in the pocket areas about forming a fire district.
鈥淲e鈥檙e supporting that,鈥� Brady said. 鈥淩ural Metro may not always be there in the future.鈥�
Mayor Mark Freeman , a retired Mesa firefighter, took the opportunity to brag.
鈥淲e are a very frugal, responsive city providing high-quality public service to our community,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will continue to do that and invest in our public safety personnel but more importantly, their well-being and keep them healthy and safe.鈥�
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