Covering an area of approximately 58 square miles, the Philomath Fire District serves more than 10,000 residents through emergency fire and medical services. With an eye toward the future, the local agency would like to hear from folks as part of its long-range planning efforts by participating in an online survey.
“We are currently developing a comprehensive master plan to enhance our services over the
next five years,” Philomath Fire and Rescue Chief Chancy Ferguson said. “As part of this process, we are seeking the input of those who live, work or frequently travel through the fire district. Community feedback will play a crucial role by ensuring that we address the most pressing concerns and effectively allocate resources.”
The district plans to run the survey until May 30. Ferguson said late last week that the survey had brought in 15 responses, adding, “These insights have already proven to be valuable.”
Ferguson said that in addition to master plan purposes, the survey results will also provide a baseline for how the district is serving the community.
“It is important for the district to understand if our current services meet the expectations of our community,” he said. “The community survey will help us determine our strengths and weaknesses as an agency.”
Ferguson said that as part of the current planning process, the fire district recently obtained an in-depth department assessment provided by the Special Districts Association of Oregon.
“Two fire service experts completed an in-depth review of our programs and provided a professional insight into the operations organization,” he said. “The assessment paired with the community survey will provide us with a good understanding of how we can best serve the needs of the community.”
Ferguson called an understanding of the community’s needs critical to the planning process.
“Each community is unique in its needs, risk and vulnerabilities, and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all fire department,” he said. “This community survey is one of the biggest and best tools we can use to custom-build the fire department to meet the needs of the Philomath community.”
The survey features 14 questions, some that include things like ranking priority levels or indicating preferred methods of communication. There are also multiple choice questions and a handful that solicit comments.
“The questions used in the survey were carefully selected to provide a very broad view of the services to the district,” Ferguson said. “Many of the questions are multifaceted and will provide us with different data points to measure our programs.”
Ferguson said that as the fire chief, he hopes that the survey will bring honest and comprehensive feedback.
“It is my continuous goal for the fire department to provide the highest possible service to our community with the tax funding provided,” he said.