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this performance. 78 Page 6 Between 2003 and 2005, the department initiated changes to previous response profiles (number of fire companies and/or code of response). Although the objective was to evolve traditional fire company assignments, there were collateral benefits to the negative impact potential of E9 service reductions. One strategy implemented was to reduce the number of fire companies dispatched to fire alarms. Most building addresses in Redwood City now receive two fire companies and one battalion chief when before most received three fire companies and a battalion chief. Some locations even received a total of five fire companies and one battalion chief prior to this change. This reduction of committed resources allowed more companies to remain in-service (available) to respond to subsequent emergencies. The second strategy was to reduce the sensitivity of the move and cover system (equalizing coverage voids due to neighboring companies committed to incidents) where engine companies would continuously move-up to other stations and cover multiple response areas. Large voids are still covered 24 hours per day by move-up companies, but the trigger has been adjusted to reduce the number of small distance or short term move-ups. The effect of this is that companies remain on-task and in their home stations more often without this strategy causing any response time deterioration. The third strategy is a more active approach to reducing the total number of fire alarm responses and to eliminate repeat alarms. Fire alarm responses have been reduced from 675 in 2002, to 525 in 2005. Because each fire alarm response is a multiple company response, the 150 call reduction has allowed a significant number of companies to remain in the system for dispatch to other incidents. There is a combined positive effect when the number of fire alarms is reduced, and the number of fire companies to the remaining fire alarms is reduced. Any positive offsets represented by dispatch profile modifications have made our resource management more efficient, but their positive impact will be overshadowed by increases in call volume and traffic in future years, and therefore we anticipate that response time performance will slip in future years. E9 was an important part of Redwood City's fire, medical and disaster response capability prior to the re-development of downtown and prior to capacity reductions taken in 2003. Although the anticipated activity increase in Downtown Redwood City will generate more fire department activity, the reinstatement of E9 to its prior capacity should serve to meet anticipated call volume, but more importantly, the increased call volume will have less of an impact on surrounding fire stations and neighborhoods if E9 is reinstated. It is also important to emphasize the value of having the closest station provide a fire pump and water to the highest concentration of old commercial buildings in Redwood City. 6