Fire Commission — Burlington, VT
Date: 2025-08-12
Time: 08:30

Burlington Fire Commission Meeting
 Tuesday August 12, 2025 08:30-08:47
 Members Present: Vice Chair Kevin McLaughlin, Linda Sheehey, Monica Chapman, Chief
 Michael Curtin (via Zoom), Deputy Chief of Operations Troy Ruggles, Deputy Chief of
 Administration Stephen Petit, and Administrative Assistant Meghan Sweeney. Todd Deluca
 member of public also joined for the meeting.
 Call to Order – 08:30 am.
 Motion to Amend/Adopt Agenda- Motion to move to accept agenda made by Commissioner
 Sheehey, seconded by Commissioner Chapman.
 Public Comment – No comment from member of public.
 Review and Accept Minutes (April and June)- Motion made by Commissioner Sheehey and
 seconded by Commission Chapman.
 Meeting Summary: the following meeting summary minutes have been generated by AI and
 while they have been reviewed are not guaranteed to be accurate.

 Quick recap
 The Burlington Fire Department reported an increase in service calls, with July being the busiest
 month in five years, while also addressing staffing challenges including vacancies and increased
 overtime amid ongoing hiring processes. The department is enhancing its technical capabilities
 through training, equipment evaluation, and exploration of drone technology for emergency
 response, alongside successful recruitment efforts for the upcoming Recruit Academy. Various
 facility improvements are underway at multiple fire stations, a tentative agreement has been
 reached with the Union on contract negotiations, and preparations are in progress for October
 fire safety month, including scheduled live burn training events at the Vermont Fire Academy.

 Action Items

 Chief Curtin to follow up on the tentative agreement with the Union on contract negotiations to
 present to the city.
 Fire Marshal's Office to prepare for October fire safety month, including fire extinguisher training at
 the farmers market.
 Fire Marshal's Office to join Engine 3 at UVM campus for RA fire safety training.
 Chief Curtin to send formal invites to the Commission, City councilors, and Mayor's office for the
 live burn trainings on October 8th, 22nd, and November 5th.
 Administration team to close the combined lateral entry-level process on Friday.
 Administration team to continue with preparations for the October 20th start date for Recruit
 Academy.
 Chief Ruggles to continue work on technical resource capabilities assessment.
 Exploratory team to continue research on drone use for emergency response.
 Administration to complete station maintenance projects.
 Chief Petit to continue updating SOGs and finalizing the first report of injury process update.
Summary

Department Call Volume Report Update
Chief Curtin reports that the department responded to 2,076 calls for service in June and July,
which is a 0.09% increase from the same period last year. July was particularly busy with 1,157
runs, making it the busiest July in the past five years. The EMS data presented in the report was
extracted from siren reports by Jeff Nicholson and converted into graph form, showing a notable
spike in May.

Fire Department Staffing and Equipment Update
Chief Curtin reports the department has 87 members with 8 vacancies, noting an increase in
minimum staffing overtime and a 44% increase in mandatory overtime. The department is
closing a combined lateral entry level hiring process with 7 lateral and 23 entry level
applications, while also acquiring new equipment including a car, ladder truck, and ambulances.
Chief Ruggles mentions ongoing collaboration with the US Coast Guard for an August 27th drill
at the lakefront and discusses the successful evacuation of the waterfront during a storm before
the July fireworks display.

Emergency Response Technology Assessment
The department is evaluating their technical resource capabilities, including training and
equipment, to determine current capabilities and needed enhancements. They are exploring drone
technology for emergency response, with plans to form an exploratory team to assess benefits,
despite challenges like weather conditions and airport proximity limitations. Additionally, the
department's recruitment efforts are progressing well with approximately 40 qualified applicants
for the October 20th Recruit Academy, and they are using boosted social media posts to track
demographics, noting that the majority of applicants are males aged 25-34.

Fire Department Facility and Training Updates
DC Petit provides updates on various fire stations, including apparatus floor resurfacing at
Station 1, sprinkler system replacement at Station 2, security door replacements at Station 4, and
refinished driveway at Station 3. Chief Curtin announces a tentative agreement with the Union
on contract negotiations and shares that the Fire Marshal's office is preparing for October fire
safety month with planned training events. The training division has ordered new air packs, and
live burns are scheduled for October 8th, October 22nd, and November 5th at the Vermont Fire
Academy, with an invitation extended to the commission, city councilors, and the mayor's office
to attend.

Old/New Business- No new or old business.


Motion to adjourn made by Commissioner Sheehey and seconded by Chapman. All in favor
meeting adjourned at 08:47 am.
 BURLINGTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
 136 S. Winooski Avenue, Burlington, VT 05401
 Phone: (802) 864-4554 Fax: (802) 865-5387




August 12, 2025
 Chief’s Report to the Burlington Fire Commission

Call Volume & Activity Summary
In June/July of 2025, the fire department has responded to 2076 calls for service. During the
same period in 2024, we responded to 2074, a .09 % increase.
Total Incidents YTD: 6639 (As of 7/31/25)




 1q2




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EMS Data:
The following charts presents monthly data on EMS-confirmed overdose and drug-related
incidents in our community from 2021 through July 31, 2025. It categorizes the top types of
substances involved, based on working diagnoses and secondary impressions gathered in the
field.




•Incidents involving opiate abuse (e.g., heroin, fentanyl) are consistently the highest among all
substance types.

•The second most frequent category involves other non-opiate illicit drugs or misuse of
medications. These are legal medications being used improperly (e.g., anti-anxiety meds, sleep
aids, ADHD stimulants)




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Personnel, Staffing, & Equipment

Total Department Staff: Uniformed Members 87 / Authorized 95
 • Minimum Daily Staffing: 22
 • Vacancies: 8
 • June/July Overtime Hours:
 Type of Overtime 2025 2024 % +-
 Minimum Staffing 1207 1204.5 +.2
 Mandatory 210 145.5 +44
 CRT 384  271 +41
 Extra Duty 163  239 -31

 • Injuries/LOA/FMLA: 3

Combined lateral and entry level application process closes 8/15. Currently have 7 applications
for the lateral position and 23 for the entry level position. (These numbers reflect preliminary
criteria evaluation and not total applications.)
Training:
 • For the months of June/July the members completed 3,630 hours of department level
 training. Topics reflect all disciplines of fire and EMS with driver training, water rescue,
 and building construction having the most hours associated with them.
 • October 5, October 22, and November 5 are the shift wide live burns at the Vermont Fire
 Academy.
 • USCG 8/27/25
Fleet:
 • New Car 5 has arrived. It is a Ford Explorer Hybrid that is currently being upfitted with
 lights and radios at Hard Wired Electronics.
 • New Ambulances being researched with H-Power idle mitigation to reduce emissions and
 work towards the citywide climate strategy.
 A brief update regarding the availability of EV ambulances, based on recent communications
 with a couple of our trusted vendors:
 - Garth Brooks from Desorcie Emergency Products relayed that Osage is not currently
 offering any electric ambulance options. Even chassis equipped with EV technology are not
 yet compatible or ready for EMS specific builds.
 - Robert Gleason from Demers Ambulances confirmed that while they previously offered an
 EV ambulance model, the chassis platform they were using is no longer available, effectively
 removing that option from their lineup for now.
 • Pumping fire apparatus were all successfully tested and passed the NFPA 1911 pump
 certification test.




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Community Engagement

  • Schiffiliti Park 75th Anniversary – Members of Ladder 4 and Ambulance 4 attended.
  • BHS Students public safety class tour at Central firehouse.
  • Fire Extinguisher Training conducted by FMO.
  • Lithium Ion Battery Education with Locomotion and Director of City Planning
  • ACE Hardware Grand-Reopening Ladder 4 and Ambulance 4attended

  • I also wanted to share something meaningful that speaks directly to the power of
 community engagement. My wife received a text message from retired Police Lt. Emmet
 Helrich, who lives in the South End:
 “So today was the Babe Ruth summer ball finale. Fall ball starts up in a couple
 weeks. Anywho…game was at Callahan. FD was on a run at Locust and Pine.
 After their biz they came up Locust, got out of their rig, sat down on the grassy
 hill and watched the final inning. We won 11–7.
 Anyway, tell your boyfriend that everyone noticed the FF’s on the hill. To me, that
 is the epitome of community. Kristin was sitting up on the hill too. I love that stuff.
 Kristin says the FF’rs also engaged in a very pleasant way with some of the
 viewers, hill sitters etc. Good stuff Jules.”

  • Social Media :




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Division Updates

Administrative Division:
  1. Recruitment – (8) vacancies. Currently have (30) qualified applicants (23 – entry level &
 7 – lateral) Anticipated academy start date of 10/20/25
  2. SOG Updates completed on internal shared drive, as well as on SharePoint. In the
 process of updating FROI form and SOG.
  3. Employee Forms – I will be working to update forms and include instructions to reduce
 the likelihood of confusion and resulting errors.
  4. Employee evaluations – nearly all employees have been trained in new evaluation
 process. Shift commanders are working with company officers to ensure evaluations are
 completed in a timely manner. We are seeing progress and will continue to monitor.
  5. Station Projects:
 a. Station 1 – In approximately 3 weeks, Station 1 will have the apparatus bay floor
 resurfaced, the stairwells repainted, and the apparatus bay/ramp transition
 repaired to prevent water leakage. The floor finish will take 4-5 days to cure and
 will need to be completed in phases. This will require T1 to temporarily be
 relocated to Station 5.
 b. Station 2 – The apparatus floor replacement has been completed. We are looking
 into options for better surface finishes for the apparatus floor. The overall project
 is still ongoing, as there will be upgrades to the sprinkler system, fire alarm
 system and electrical. An additional security camera was added to provide better
 coverage of the parking area.
 c. Station 3 – The driveway and parking area was recently repaired. Exterior
 lighting and an additional security camera were recently installed.
 d. Station 4 – The exterior man-doors will be getting replaced on August 11th.
  6. Dispatch
 a. Coordinating between Burlington and South Burlington to improve airport phase
 responses.
 b. Coordinating with City IT and BPD to ensure dispatchers have access to a
 training environment and practice handling low frequency incidents or scenarios.

Operations Division:
  • Transition to new position is going well and learning the roles and responsibilities.
  • Attended final planning meeting for the USCG exercise to be held on August 27, 2025 at
 the USCG station on the waterfront. BFD will have a role in the drill, thought the primary
 focus will be USCG and maritime preparedness.
  • Future meetings with the USCG regarding asset availability for use by BFD.
  • Worked the Emergency Operations Center for the July 3rd fireworks event. At
 approximately 1735 hrs. +/- a storm came across the lake, NOAA personnel at the EOC
 had provided real time information and the BFD members at the lake shore parks and
 beaches recognized the conditions and we ordered the evacuation of the waterfront.
 People were allowed back to the waterfront at approximately 1915 hrs.
  • We will be creating an exploratory team to review the benefits of drone response and use
 at emergency scenes. Being used by multiple agencies in the state including our own
 BPD, we will determine the future use of these units for BFD.




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 • We will be evaluating our technical response capabilities and determining a course of
 action to solidify our existing capability and response matrix for these incidents.
 • Attended day long training on First Due Records Management Software.


Fire Marshal’s Office:
 • The FMO is gearing up for the Oct. Fire safety month. Meetings are being scheduled
 with our larger apartment buildings. Dealer.com has agreed to let us use their parking lot
 on Pine St. for our annual Saturday Fire safety event. This will be on the same day as
 the farmers market and in the same area.

 • The FM will join UVM for the upcoming RA fire safety training and join the RA’s for a
 lunch meet and greet.

 • Construction is booming. A new large building seems to break ground every few
 months. The road construction has made navigating the city very difficult. Weekly
 meetings are held with SDI about access to buildings. Communication between all
 parties is difficult and does create access problems at times.



Training Division:
 • Thank you to DC Ruggles for a smooth transition process and ongoing support while
 learning the new position.
 • A number of members recently completed Rope Rescue Awareness & Operations as well
 as Surface Water Rescue Technician with Boat Operations.
 • Lt Wilson completed Radio Programming and Template Building training through
 Motorola
 • Lt. Mathieu will be conducting department wide training this month on the new Air
 Packs.
 • GlobalFoundries Fire Department has agreed to allow three of our members to attend
 Confined Space Rescue Technician Training August 11-15.
 • Moving forward with Live Burn Schedule now that grant funds are back on line. First
 live burn is scheduled for October 8th.
 • Working on coordinating times for all crews to do a walk-through of City Place before it
 is occupied



EMS Division:

 • This past week, we wrapped up our continuing education sessions on sepsis training.
 The training incorporated multiple patient scenarios and placed a strong emphasis on both
 primary and secondary assessments. We also worked on developing a triple differential




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 diagnosis approach to help providers rule out other possible medical conditions that may
 present with similar symptoms, ensuring more accurate and timely patient care.
  • Currently, we are focusing on updating the quizzes for our Recruit Academy to reflect
 the Vermont Statewide EMS 2025 Protocol updates. This will ensure our newest
 members are trained and tested in alignment with the latest state guidelines.




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