From KGTV: A report completed by Citygate Associates said response times by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department are too long in 19 neighborhoods. Ten of the 19 neighborhoods are big enough to warrant their own fire station, while the remaining nine could be covered by two-person crews, one of whom would be a paramedic, according to the study.

The report recommended building 10 new fire stations -- at a cost of $100 million -- to fully cover the city and bring response times down. Frank DeClercq, who heads the firefighters union, said city officials should look for money to build two stations per year.

Chief Javier Mainar said he liked the idea of what Citygate called "fast-response units, " two-person units that would fill those other nine gaps which are in the seams between fire stations and don't really justify a full fire station by themselves.

According to city officials, there are currently 47 firehouses in San Diego, but 13 of them are browned-out. Since the implementation of brown-outs, fire call response time has increased by an average of 7 seconds, with some responses taking much longer.

Mainar said he hopes to restore two of the browned-out stations to full service during fiscal 2012. Read the entire article here.