Fire and EMS staff told the Bloomington City Board of Public Safety on July 17 that year-to-date runs were 3,073 through June and that response times are meeting targets for arriving on scene in under four minutes in many incidents.

Fire staff described recent equipment and training investments, including delivery of a new flashover training chamber. "This flashover is when, basically, the room the entire room catches on fire, like, all at all at once, and it's not survivable," a Fire Department staff member said, describing the training's purpose: to teach firefighters the signs and how to exit quickly. Staff said the chamber will be used first for instructor burns and then to expand training opportunities.

The department said it has reached 58% of its yearly training-hour goal (the goal cited in the meeting was 42,000 hours) and cited several recent specialized trainings including vent-enter-isolate-search (V E I S), flashover awareness, vehicle technician and surface-water operations.

The Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) program reported that Bloomington is now the site of a permanent child car-seat fitting station; staff said car-seat fittings increased from six in June to 11 and that additional car seats have been ordered after the state supply ran low. The MIH team also acquired a Polaris Ranger through a grant to support outreach at special events.

Fire prevention and inspection staff reported that commercial inspections are at 26% of their annual goal and that inspectors have started monthly outreach to educate building occupants during inspections.

Staff discussed community partnerships, including coordination with the mobility-aid lending library and events with the boys & girls club. Fire staff indicated plans for maintenance and painting of the training tower and ongoing work on bond-funded projects.

Meeting discussion included a board member's question about whether the department would hold public demonstrations of the flashover chamber; staff said they expect to expand training availability and would like to show it off, but noted safety and instructor-preparation constraints.