Upper Arlington Fire Chief Zimmer presented the fire division’s 2024 annual report to City Council on Aug. 18, saying the department responded to roughly 5,000 calls last year — about 14 runs per day — and that nearly 68% of those were medical in nature. “Their professionalism and dedication was on full display,” Zimmer said as he reviewed response and program data.

The presentation matters because it frames the city’s emergency response capacity as officials plan station renovations and capital purchases. The division reported average response times of 4 minutes, 44 seconds for EMS and 4 minutes, 1 second for fire runs, and it said call volume rose about 7% over five years. Zimmer told council the department had a roughly 10% decrease in auto aid given (outgoing assistance to neighboring jurisdictions) and a 19% increase in automatic aid received.

City staff and the fire division emphasized training and workforce changes. Zimmer said the division logged roughly 638 hours of classroom and practical instruction in 2024 and hired an unusually large cohort of probationary firefighters last year. “We had 10 probationary firefighters that we hired,” Zimmer said, calling it one of the highest hiring years on record.

Council and staff also discussed the CARES program, which Zimmer described as having a large increase in activity after program expansion. “CARES had a 150% increase in patients and calls for service over the last five years,” Zimmer said, attributing much of that growth to two firefighter-paramedics assigned as community paramedics. The council approved a full-time social worker for CARES in last year’s budget; Zimmer said the new hire, Nate Hall, is scheduled to start Aug. 25 and will focus on referrals, follow-up, and mental health education for employees and residents.

On apparatus and capital projects, Zimmer said the new ladder truck ordered in 2022 is under construction in Appleton, Wisconsin, and the department expects final inspection in mid-September and in-service status by mid-October. He also noted a fire-safety trailer and battery-operated rescue tools on order, and a planned Station 71 renovation/relocation effort to begin in late 2025 with about $12 million allocated in the capital improvements program (CIP) in 2028, when Station 72 is paid off.

Council members asked about targets and benchmarking. Zimmer said the division is close to internal targets for initial-unit response and that the department will pursue a formal standards-of-cover community risk assessment around 2027. On false-alarm data tied to new software, Zimmer said the new records management system went live about six months ago and staff are still extracting performance information; he has asked police for a related update and will share findings with council.

Council members praised the CARES expansion and the hire of a social worker. City Manager Shoney said the city will review older-adult services and integrate CARES work with parks and recreation and other departments, and that the social-worker position is intended to broaden CARES services beyond older-adult programming to residents in crisis.

Zimmer closed by encouraging council and the public to review the posted 2024 annual report and said staff will continue work on data-driven planning and the standards-of-cover effort.

Less-critical details: Zimmer noted the busiest day of the week is Thursdays, busiest hours are roughly 8 a.m.–6 p.m., CARES conducts about 24 social checks per month, the division installed its 1,500th home grab bar since the program began, and Rumpke public service announcements recently highlighted improperly disposed batteries and trash-truck fires. The fire division’s annual report is posted on the city’s website.