MERIDIAN, Idaho — Like a lot of cities in Idaho, Meridian has seen a huge influx of people over the last few years - but with growth comes many challenges, especially for first responders.
The Meridian Fire Department held a media day Thursday morning to talk about how they are tackling some of those challenges.
The two biggest challenges Meridian fire struggles with is response time and staffing.
Response time is a big challenge, now that there are busier streets and more traffic lights. The ideal response time is around eight minutes, but right now it's 13 to 14 minutes.
Part of the issue includes a 35-year-old system installed on traffic lights that allows emergency vehicles to get through traffic.
To solve that problem, Fire Chief Kris Blume says city council budgeted $1 million to upgrade the system.
"It's going to have a huge impact to reducing our response times,” Chief Blume said. “It's using a cloud-based technology that's going to facilitate our fire engines to move through intersections at a safe but quicker rate to get to the emergency scene.”
Another problem the fire department has faced is having the right amount of staffing and again the city responded.
"The city council and the mayor approved an unprecedented construction of two fire stations and on-boarding 40% more staff in one year," Blume said.
Blume says that there is more that needs to get done to improve, but these small changes, in the grand scheme of things, are going to have a huge impact.
With the way the department is adapting and changing, it has attracted firefighters from across the country, including Chad Thompson who was a firefighter in the Bay Area for nine years.
"Choosing Meridian for myself was by far the best decision I could have ever made,” Thompson said. “I'm happy, I'm healthy. I love what we're doing, I love who we get to serve. We're doing something really special here."
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