CARLSBAD -- An assessment of how well Carlsbad's fire stations perform and what they should do to improve could start this summer, officials said this week.

City firefighters have long sought a document that would spell out when the city will add staff and equipment. This study could be the first of a two-step process to create a long-term plan, fire Chief Kevin Crawford told the City Council at a workshop Wednesday.

"It's important to understand that what we're proposing is an entire assessment from stem to stern," he said.

The project, estimated to cost roughly $80,000, will take six to nine months to complete, city fire officials said. It's expected to be included in the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The proposed study would cover everything from emergency response times to whether the department's fire prevention programs work, Crawford said.

The city participated in a regional firefighter study several years ago, but this assessment would only focus on Carlsbad and would go into far greater detail, he added.

"I think there's a lot of things that will come out of this … that we need to know," he said.

Council members asked what standards Carlsbad will be measured against.

Councilman Mark Packard said he wanted the city to be compared with well-run, fiscally conservative cities "that we respect" rather than ones that have excessive spending habits when it comes to emergency services.

"Who creates the definition of the standards?" he asked, mentioning a TV commercial where cows encourage people to eat chicken. "If you ask a cow how much beef you should consume, you'll get a different answer than if you ask a chicken."

After the laughter died down, Crawford responded that the study will include multiple assessment standards.

Recalling the massive, 1996 Harmony Grove fire, Mayor Bud Lewis asked if the assessment would only focus on recent experience or whether it would include a look at how well the city could handle various potential disasters.

Both past and future events will be included, Crawford said.

While the document also will mention the city's role in regional firefighting efforts, plans don't call for it to be an in-depth review of activities outside the city, he said.

Council members said that they think Carlsbad firefighters are doing too much for other communities -- particularly in more distant places in San Diego County, such as Ramona and Julian.

The city will need to look at whether it is "getting a fair trade in return" for allowing its crews to help fight inland wildfires, several council members said.

Crawford said the call volume within the city limits is continuing to grow by up to 10 percent year.

Carlsbad's firefighters now typically respond to roughly 25 calls a day. Most of those calls involve requests for medical aid rather than firefighting technics, and about one a day involves traffic accidents on Interstate 5, the fire chief said.