2021 Fire Department Annual Report

The fire department staffs the fire station with dedicated and professional personnel 24-hours per day.

Fire department staffing levels

• twenty-two full-time firefighter/paramedics
• one customer service representative
• five part-time firefighter/paramedics

Equipment

• two medic ambulances
• one rescue pumper
• one fire engine
• one quint fire truck
• one support/hydrant maintenance vehicle.

Emergency medical service incidents continued to be one of the department's priorities and represented 69 percent of the total incident volume.

The total loss from fire in the community was $158,200. The department attributes the low number of fire incidents to fire prevention efforts and the fire inspections conducted by fire safety staff. In a modern fire service, preventing the outbreak and serious spread of fire is considered as essential to public safety as proficiency in fighting fires.

A global pandemic was declared in March 2020, and the State of Ohio issued a series of Department of Health Orders which affected everyday life.  Many individuals in the community worked from home, and schools suspended in-person classes for a period of time.  During 2021, some things began to open with modified health restrictions, and schools were in session using a hybrid learning model.  The fire department assisted in vaccinating the community to control the virus spread.  Additionally, they acquired personal protective equipment for EMS personnel to handle COVID-infected patients.  Departmental operations were modified to handle contagious patients, and decontamination procedures were utilized following all incidents.  The Montgomery community tracked 816 positive COVID cases for the year 2021.  This brought Montgomery's total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,472.

The department received an Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating of 2 due to the review of the department’s operations.  The ISO rating system uses a scale of 1 to 10 for its rating system.  If a community scores 10, its residents will pay a much higher premium than those with a lower score. Current data show there are 43,094 fire departments across the country.  In 2021, 305 departments were rated Class 1, and only 1,482 departments were rated Class 2.  The other 41,307 fire departments were a Class 3 or higher, resulting in those communities seeing higher insurance costs for their businesses and residents.

The community passed a new 6 mil levy in the spring of 2018 to fund the operations of the fire department.  The current levy should fund the department through careful planning and budget controls through 2030.  The department also receives revenue through billing EMS patients who are not property owners in the City.

Public education programs are a critical component of a modern fire department as the department strives to prevent injuries and accidents from occurring in the community.

Fire prevention education available for groups:

• Safety Center tours,
• CPR/First Aid classes, and
• Fire Prevention Week activities.
• The Child Car Seat Safety Program taught 38 citizens how to place their children in car seats correctly and properly install the car seats in vehicles.
• Since the beginning of this program in 1999, the department has instructed over 3,563 individuals in the proper installation of child car seats.

Partnership with the American Red Cross to supply and install free photoelectric smoke alarms.

• Began in 2016
• Offered with a free home safety check
• To date, 585 smoke alarms have been installed in 243 homes.