Fire division unveils first five‑year strategic plan, prioritizes training, staffing and community programs

The Upper Arlington Fire Division presented its first formal five-year strategic plan to City Council on Feb. 24, outlining initiatives on training and professional development, operational performance and staffing, capital improvements, and community risk reduction.

Chief Zimmer said the plan grew from a process that included a consultant, AP Triton, an internal workshop and substantial public engagement. AP Triton’s outreach included more than 21,000 emails and social-media contacts; the firm received 655 public survey responses, which Chief Zimmer said was the highest response the consultant had seen for a community of this size. “Ninety-two percent of respondents who received services rated them very satisfied,” Zimmer said, citing the survey results.

The plan’s four strategic initiatives list specific goals and objectives. Initiative 1 focuses on training and professional development, including enhanced new-employee and leadership training and continued EMS education. Initiative 2 centers on operational performance and staffing; the department will pursue a standards-of-cover (SOC) analysis and a community risk assessment (CRA) to identify gaps in service and improve response planning. Initiative 3 targets capital items such as frontline apparatus replacement, station maintenance and a planned replacement of the fire-education trailer approved in this year’s budget; Zimmer flagged planned replacement of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) before 2030 as a significant capital need. Initiative 4 addresses community risk reduction, expanding public education, fire prevention activity and the CARES program.

Assistant Chief Mike Bell said community responders will pursue a deeper data analysis: Chief Zimmer noted the department’s new records-management system will improve the ability to analyze response data and benchmark performance. The division reported recent average response times of approximately 4 minutes, 48 seconds (down slightly from a 2023 CPSM study figure of 4:57).

Council members asked about the plan’s implications and costs. Zimmer and Bell said the plan is intended as a road map; leadership will work with administration and finance to identify budget implications and phased implementation. “Everything that’s in this five-year strategic plan is very achievable financially,” Zimmer told council, while noting some large-ticket items — for example, equipment or station replacement — will require longer lead time and inclusion in capital planning.

Several council members asked how the department will measure progress and whether the plan’s goals will be adjusted if circumstances change. Zimmer said program managers have been assigned to objectives and that division leadership will monitor performance regularly. The SOC and CRA work will provide geographically detailed data about call volumes and response coverage to inform staffing and station-location decisions.

Nut graf: The fire division’s strategic plan formalizes priorities including workforce training, a data-driven standards-of-cover/community risk assessment, equipment and station planning, and expansion of prevention and community programs; the plan will guide multi-year budgeting and operational decisions but requires further cost estimation and phased implementation.

Council members welcomed the plan and the high public satisfaction numbers reflected in the community survey, and asked staff to return with more granular cost projections and data-driven recommendations to support any future staffing or capital requests. Chief Zimmer said the plan will be updated periodically and that leadership views the strategic plan as the start of an ongoing management cycle, not a final, static document.

Ending: Staff indicated they will proceed with SOC/CRA work, integrate findings into budget planning and return to council with implementation steps and capital timelines.