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Grand Rapids fire prevention officials report stable fire responses, expand residential alarm program
Summary
Deputy Fire Chief Keith Borsen told the Public Safety Committee the number of reported alarms has risen while actual structure fires held steady; the department said its residential safety program has installed thousands of smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors and will emphasize lithium‑ion battery safety during Fire Prevention Week.
Deputy Fire Chief Keith Borsen told the Grand Rapids City Public Safety Committee that while 911 alarm reports have risen since 2020, the number of actual structure fires the department responds to has remained “fairly stagnant.”
The message came as Borsen walked committee members through departmental trends and prevention work. “So far year to date, 112 actual fires within the city of Grand Rapids,” he said, and then described the fire prevention division’s outreach.
The nut of the department’s argument to the committee was that education and prevention are limiting severe fires even as calls increase. “The gold or yellow line across the top is reported structure fires. ... even though the incidence of the alarm reporting or people calling 911 continues to trend upward, the actual fires that we respond to are staying the same,” Borsen said.
Borsen and the fire prevention team described several programs: plan reviews and inspections done with the building department; special-events permitting with the office of special events; and a residential safety program that visits owner‑occupied homes to deliver education and install alarms. He said the prevention division has performed 589 operational permit inspections, completed 326 construction plan reviews, and conducted more than 2,250 rough‑in and final building inspections so far this year.
“We have installed almost 5,000 smoke alarms and over 1,900 carbon monoxide alarms. That is getting into over 800 owner occupied homes within the city,” Borsen said, and he provided cumulative totals since the program’s inception: about 88,700 smoke alarms, 20,800 carbon‑monoxide detectors, and more than 16,000 homes visited.
Committee members asked about program costs and capacity. When asked how much the city spends annually on detectors, Borsen said, “Off the top of my head, I want to say that the number approaches $300,000 out of the fire department's general operating fund,” and added that the department continues to seek federal grants to offset that expense. When committee members asked whether the program keeps up with demand, he said staff can meet demand and noted that the department’s educator, Ruth Yocom, previously worked as an installer.
The department flagged an upcoming public education priority: lithium‑ion battery safety. Borsen said Fire Prevention Week in October will carry a national theme about those batteries and the city will start a local messaging campaign about safe purchase, storage, charging and disposal of devices with lithium‑ion cells.
Committee members also noted local milestones: the department will open the new Kendall fire station with a ribbon‑cutting scheduled for Friday.
The discussion combined operational numbers, program details and outreach plans; no committee motion or formal vote was recorded on the prevention programs during the meeting.
Deputy Chief Borsen and his prevention staff framed the reported numbers as evidence that prevention and detector distribution are reducing the severity of incidents, and presented steps for further community education around battery safety.
