Is fire department mutual aid balanced in Columbus?
In Franklin and Madison Townships, they took more mutual aid runs into the city of Columbus than they went on in their own township in 2023. In Franklin and Madison Townships, they took more mutual aid runs into the city of Columbus than they did in their own township in 2023, according to a study commissioned by the city's Fire Union Local 67 president, Steve Stein. The study also revealed that medic units are being used so heavily that they likely cannot meet the 90% travel time in a potential need for 5 additional units in the city. While mutual aid from other departments is called when resources are busy, it is designed to help offset demand. Of the 47,779 total dispatches for Columbus Division of Fire for the year of 2023 for that year, 35,899 of those calls were received exclusive or partial mutual aid. However, some suburban fire chiefs argue that the numbers don't tell the whole story, citing the use of equipment and tools Columbus Fire has like its Hazmat and bomb squad teams. The city has budgeted for three new Fire classes, adding 150 firefighters, bringing the total number of proposed firefighters proposed this year to 1,788, more than any other time in the history.
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In Franklin and Madison Townships, they took more mutual aid runs into the city of Columbus than they went on in their own township in 2023.
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Even with those additional firefighter hires, is it enough to protect the city and to help keep families safe?
When there's an emergency and minutes matter, most residents don't care what color truck arrives at their door to help.
“Nobody's thinking about a fire and EMS emergency until it happens to them. Candidly, that's why we are here to make sure those types of things are being taken care of and delivered upon consistently,” said Columbus Fire Union Local 67 President Steve Stein.
According to the Matrix report, a study the city paid to research the needs of the division in 2022, it stated medic units were "utilized so heavily they likely cannot meet the 90% travel time in performance objective. There is an immediate need for 5 additional medic units in various areas of the city."
“Not only is the hiring critically important, but our capital infrastructure. That means fire stations and trucks is going to be part and parcel with that,” Stein argued.
What happens when Columbus fire and rescue resources are busy? Mutual aid from other departments is called if it is closer and can respond faster.
“The theory of mutual aid, yes is a balanced responsibility. If we have a major event downtown or something during an OSU game where we have several hundred thousand extra people in the city, mutual aid is designed to help offset those demands,” Stein said.
All departments in the area rely on mutual aid in case of a big fire or emergency.
We took a look at the number of times other townships and districts took mutual aid calls into the city of Columbus and received help from Columbus.
Of the 47,779 total dispatches for Columbus Division of Fire for the year of 2023, they received exclusive or partial mutual aid in 35,899 of those calls.
In Franklin and Madison Townships, they took more mutual aid runs into the city of Columbus than they went on in their own township in 2023.
“That's not the notion of mutual aid. That is we are propagating our city services on our suburban partners. It's not fair to our residents, nor is it fair to the suburbs,” Stein argues.
10TV spoke with several suburban fire chiefs who declined to go on camera but say the numbers don't tell the whole story, that they rely on equipment and tools Columbus Fire has like its Hazmat and bomb squad teams.
Ginther declined several requests for an on-camera interview for this story, but in a statement he said, "Public Safety remains a top priority which is reflected in the 2024 Operating Budget. Personnel for police and fire is the vast majority of the spending in Public Safety. We have budgeted for total of three new Fire classes, adding 150 firefighters, bringing the total number of proposed firefighters for this year to 1,788 – more than any other time in the city's history."