Kentwood Fire and Transportation

Windshield Survey  Avenue G and Third Street are the main roads going through the town. They are also the only roads that have street markers, but the roads that deviate from these do not have markers.  The firehouse is located on Avenue G in the same building as the police station and City Hall. It is a brick building with no vandalism.  There is parking in front of the station, but is limited to ten spots.  It has a monument and the American flag in the front left corner.

Windshield Survey  Fire house has three draw up doors with a side canopy that houses four vehicles.  The main roads do not have pot holes and are paved.  There are no sidewalks on the main roads or on the neighborhood roads.  The majority of the population have private vehicles.  Did not see any buses or bike trails.

Windshield Survey  There is a train track on the east side of town on the town limits going toward Mt. Hermon.  There are railroad crossing signs and the horizontal bars with lights to stop traffic.  I55 is West of the town.

Strengths  The community is small which allows citizens to volunteer in addition to holding full-time careers.  The fire department does have a budget, but it is not constrained. The department is able to remain in the budget, which will allow them in the future to have more paid personnel each shift.

Weaknesses  A major weakness of the community is not having a hospital. The community could improve this by opening a small hospital to avoid traveling outside of the community for health care.  There is only one paid firefighter each shift and a total of twelve paid firefighters in the entire department. This can be improved by increasing the total amount of paid firefighters.  There has been a decrease in the number of volunteers over the years because job opportunities are moving out of the community. Most citizens are having to commute to LaPlace, Hammond, or Amite.

Weaknesses  The department covers 110 square miles which makes it difficult to respond within a timely manner depending on where the emergency is located.  The department helps with transfers outside of the city which decreases the amount of personnel that are available for emergencies.

Opportunities  The fire department provides an opportunity for citizens to have smoke alarms installed in their homes.  The department also goes to schools and educates about fire safety.  They also participate with the red cross.  The community can take advantage of all of these opportunities especially having smoke alarms installed in their homes.

Threats  A major threat that could harm the community is not having a hospital. This makes it more difficult when transporting someone who is in critical care. This poses an increased risk for possible death on the way to the nearest hospital.  With citizens having to commute to work, it poses a threat of families moving out of the community to be closer to work resulting in a further decrease in the amount of volunteers.

Threats  With the department responsible for mostly transfer work outside of the community, it can leave the community at risk for not having enough personnel to deal with an emergency.  Other communities have hospitals and more paid firefighters. With an increase in the paid personnel, the community can afford to have more than one paid firefighter each shift.