By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
The Bryan City Fire Department continues to provide excellent service to its citizens while facing a nationwide shortage of personnel.
This is hitting all departments especially hard, especially when you combine that with the fact that most departments are seeing an increase with their call volume.
Bryan is no exception to this fact as they have been seeing a large increase in calls this past year. The number of fires has remained constant, but the service has had to be modified to provide additional medical first responder coverage since late May.
This has been due to calls increasing from around 40 a month, up to around 150 a month according to Chief Douglas Pool.
Chief Pool went on to explain that the biggest change to firefighting is the increased need to support EMS, and the challenges with staffing. “Staffing continues to be a concern.
The traditional “volunteer” is becoming scarce. Training requirements and commitment to availability to respond have made it hard for “volunteers” to balance their jobs and family time. More part-time positions have been created to fill the void.
Use of mutual aid with surrounding departments is necessary for all departments to meet staffing needs at a fire,” said Chief Douglas Pool.
All these issues are being worked on daily in Bryan in order to continue providing service to their residents.
Chief Pool explained that one thing that helps is the fact that Bryan is the only department in the county with a full-time staff.
“Our department is the only one in the county with full-time firefighters. The Bryan Fire Training Academy is state accredited and provides fire certification training to many of the departments in Northwest Ohio. Our hazardous materials team is a regional response Type III verified team.”
When asked what the fire service means to him, Chief Pool stated the following. “Fire Service is my profession. Service and dedication to public safety is what it means to me.”
Chief Pool also went on to give everyone reading this a tip regarding renters insurance. “Far too often we respond to fires in homes that leave people with great loss of their belongings and no coverage.
The building is covered by the owner’s insurance but that does not cover the renters’ contents.”
Jacob can be reached at
jacob@thevillagereporter.com