By AMY REINHOLDS Colorado Daily Staff Writer

Boulder's fire department continues to monitor damage to fire trucks in relation to the speed bumps that are part of the city's experimental program to slow traffic in neighborhoods. It also will report to the city the bumps' effect on emergency response times. Here are how other cities are weighing the balance between emergency response and speeding traffic.

* In Clovis, Calif., Fire Chief Jim Schneider said the department avoids all streets that have speed bumps, unless an emergency is on that street. Emergency response routes are diverted to other streets.

* In Eugene, Ore., the city agreed to avoid placing new speed bumps in major runs for the fire department. Fire trucks avoid streets with existing circles and speed bumps. "What people here finally came to realize is that the streets are our base of operation," said Matthew Shuler, district chief of Eugene's fire and emergency medical services.

* In Portland, Ore., the transportation and fire departments conducted tests with all emergency vehicles on circles and speed humps and found it lost nine to 10 seconds per device. A videotape of the tests also showed how the inside of the truck was jarred, and the city agreed to a moratorium on speed bumps on emergency response routes. The city is working on a new street designation to set emergency routes apart, but the fire department doesn't oppose circles or humps on other streets.

* In Sacramento, Calif., the fire department determined trucks couldn't travel more than 15 mph over humps. Two firefighters were injured in separate incidents from the jolt caused by riding over the humps, according to Shuler, who studied other cities' plans for slowing traffic. Shuler said the jolt caused the seat-belted firefighters to strike their heads on the cab roof, and they suffered vertebral compression. One went on early retirement, and another was awarded permanent disability status.