A Message from the Chief
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Fire Chief Pete Kelly |
As Fire Chief I welcome you to the Fort Wayne Fire Department. Our department was established in 1839 and now employs 375 firefighters supported by 10 civilian employees. The department serves a diverse population of more than 253,691people over a 110 square mile area, as well as neighboring counties through mutual aid agreements. Its focus is to protect property and save lives through innovative fire prevention, public education and fire suppression coupled with fire investigations that determine cause and origin. I am committed to high quality customer service that is sensitive to the needs of Fort Wayne citizens and visitors alike.
2010 was another year of providing outstanding fire service to the City of Fort Wayne and its visitors. Dedicated firefighters through proper staffing and quality equipment continued to deliver emergency response in a timely and professional manner. The Department has been able to maintain an average response time of just under 4 ½ minutes, despite an increase in training hours, expansion of our Wellness Fitness Initiative, renewed emphasis on building preplans and continuing to provide community outreach programs such as smoke detector installation. Safety remained paramount through the support and leadership of the department's Health and Safety Officer, Quartermaster, the International Association of Firefighters Local 124 and other initiatives on the part of the command staff.
The Training Division, in addition to their normal EMS and firefighting firefighter training expanded the officer leadership program through formal classroom presentations and discussions. The Command Training Center continued to be a success offering more realistic Incident Management training for the FWFD command and other northeast Indiana agencies command personnel. Included in the training were dispatchers from both Allen County and City of Fort Wayne in preparation for implementation of the newly consolidated 911 Center. The Consolidated Communications Partnership (CCP) was formed to oversee a consolidated dispatch center between the County and City that expects to promote more efficient and safe emergency responses between FWFD and other Allen County fire departments and public safety agencies.
Fire Prevention and Education continued to reach out to thousands of businesses and individuals to promote safety. The implementation of a new inspection program continues to utilize new computer hardware and software in the field to increase the efficiency and number of inspections. Our Safety Education officers continued to reach thousands of school age children through school visits and activities at the Safety Village complex including the Survive Alive House. The Department's Arson Investigators continued to utilize their full police powers that have allowed them to more effectively investigate, arrest and assist in the prosecution of arson related cases. All of these efforts contribute to maintaining the lower number of structure fires Fort Wayne experiences each year compared to the national average.
As we move beyond 2010, the members of FWFD will continue to provide the level of fire service the citizens of Fort Wayne have come to expect. Not unlike the last three years, where the Fire Department budgets stayed relatively flat, the financial challenges are expected to continue. Members of the Fort Wayne Fire Department through a strong partnership between the administration and the union's executive board must be open to exploring cost-efficient means of delivering the high-quality fire service to the citizens of Fort Wayne. However, that same partnership has a responsibility to inform and educate the citizens and their representatives that at some point providing the same level of service with continued diminishing resources becomes unlikely.