Response times to emergencies such as fire incidents are critical to save to lives and property. Over the 2018-2019 fire season in the Gisborne brigade area, 45% of fire responses took longer than the required eight minutes. A closest facility analysis was undertaken to determine whether or not this response time is actually feasible. It was found that given best case scenario conditions, all incidents could be responded to within the required time.

In order to determine whether incidents can be met within the required eight minutes, three main stages took place: 1. Removal of edge effects 2. Slope analysis 3. Closest Facility Analysis.

The longest response time was under seven minutes. The mean was 1.63 minutes, which shows very prompt responses. The majority of responses occurred in under three minutes, 34.4% of responses taking between one and two minutes, with an additional 34.3% taking less that one minute. It is important to remember that the chosen speed for the network analysis was the maximum feasible speed. Although turns have been taken into consideration, this does not account for bends in roads, traffic or the time taken to initiate the response, all of which would increase the total response time.

In conclusion, the locations for fire stations in the Gisborne brigade area do allow for the CFA required eight minute response time, given that there is a route available with gradients no more than 14.4%. It is recommended that attention be paid to stations located in highly populated areas such as Stations 16, 15 and 4. It is also recommended that if new stations were to be added to the area that the most beneficial placement would be to the South of Station 4.