Mayor Tim Busse | City of Bloomington Official website
Mayor Tim Busse | City of Bloomington Official website
The Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) welcomed 20 new full-time firefighters in April. All of the new firefighters came with the required education and certifications, and most already served as paid, on-call fire firefighters for the BFD. Their first assignment? A month of full-time training.
“We have been training eight hours a day,” said Mallory Vedder, a part-time firefighter who was hired to serve full time. “We learn so much from each other and it builds on the strong sense of teamwork we have, pulling together to serve the community.”
Along with practice using ropes, ladders, hydrants and hoses, saws and tools, engines and trucks, the firefighters trained on structure fires, Emergency Medical Services, rescue, hazardous materials and technical rescue. The 160 hours of instruction also included live structure fire training.
Meeting the needs of public safety
In 2021, insufficient staffing resulted in the BFD meeting its response-time goal only 67% of the time. Fire trucks frequently arrived on calls with only one or two firefighters. To better serve the community, the department is now shifting from a paid-on-call, part-time staff to a mix of full-time and part-time firefighters. In 2022, the City recently received a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant that funded 18 additional firefighters for three years.
By July, the department plans to have 24 full-time firefighters on 24-hour shifts. Expect more new recruits. To function at its best and meet the community’s needs, the department has set a goal of 75 – 80 full-time firefighters and 60 – 75 part-time firefighters over the next few years.
For more updates about the BFD, visit blm.mn/fire.
Original source can be found here.
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