Interim Fire Chief Paul Bulmer told the March 8 strategic roadmap retreat that increasing wildfire risk, overlapping earthquake exposure and infrastructure vulnerabilities make emergency preparedness a high city priority.

Bulmer said the department is reviewing updated CAL FIRE hazard maps and is planning public outreach on wildfire risk. He urged a stronger city focus on community‑level resilience, including building partnerships with neighborhood organizations and faith institutions to create local resiliency hubs that could shelter residents and distribute food and supplies after a major event.

Bulmer described Hayward's hillside water system: roughly 15% of the city is served from pump stations that lift water into reservoirs; the pumps run on electricity but have routinely maintained backup generators. He said fuel supplies on site can support continuous generator operation about 24 to 48 hours in worst‑case scenarios and highlighted the city's interties with regional water systems as a key resilience factor.

On staffing and coverage, the fire chief said he supports a standards‑of‑coverage study to align station locations and deployment with population growth. He cited a commonly used planning benchmark during the meeting: “For NFPA, they recommend 1 firefighter per 1,000 residents. And right now, we're just about at 0.75 firefighters per 1,000,” Bulmer said, calling for a data‑driven review of station placement and mutual aid needs.

Bulmer and councilors discussed coordination with other agencies, retrofitting of infrastructure and the role of public education to reduce home ignition risks. Bulmer offered to bring specific options for staffing, mutual aid and community preparedness to future public safety briefings.