Fire Commission — Burlington, VT
Date: 2025-06-17
Time: 08:30

BURLINGTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
 136 S. Winooski Avenue, Burlington, VT 05401
 Phone: (802) 864-4554 Fax: (802) 865-5387




June 17, 2025
Chief’s Report to the Burlington Fire Commission

Personnel: We had two members resign recently. Jared Markovsky is pursuing a fire service
career in Maine and Alec Johnson is relocating to Florida. We wish them the best and thank them
for their service to the city. Chief LaChance’s last tour is 6/30/25. This will create 6 vacancies.
The plan as of now will be to start the next recruit school earlier than April, possibly October of
this year. BC of Training Troy Ruggles will be promoted to Deputy Chief of Operations and
SFF Adam Savoy will be promoted to BC of Training on 7/7/25. Congratulations to both.

Responses: In April and May of 2025, the fire department has responded to 1,855 calls for
service. During the same period in 2024, we responded to 1,651, a 12.35 % increase.


 2024 2025
 1,651 1,855




1|Page
Overtime: April 01, 2025 – May 31, 2025
 2024 2025
 • Minimum Staffing Overtime: 1652.25 hrs 1688.75 hrs
 • Mandatory Minimum Staffing Overtime: 305.5 hrs 317.25 hrs

The above data shows a 2.2% increase in Minimum Staffing Overtime and a 3.8% increase in
Mandatory Minimum Staffing Overtime during the same period last year. Overall, the minimum
staffing overtime burden on the employees and city budget increased by 2.5%.
Note: The above overtime burden on the staff accounts for Minimum Staffing Overtime, giving
us the 22 people required to meet minimum staffing levels. This does not account for extra duty
jobs or CRT overtime. In the same period, our staff committed to the following extra duty and
CRT overtime:
 • Extra Duty: 155 hrs
 • CRT Overtime: 611.5 hrs

Fleet: Preliminary work has started on creating specs for an RFP for a new Ladder 2 and an
ambulance. Build times are still around 44 months.

Buildings: Station 2 floor project is nearing completion with concrete being poured last
Thursday. It will have to cure and be sealed before we can move back in sometime in July.
Currently, Ladder 2 has been relocating to downtown for the night tour.




2|Page
Community Response Team Pilot: We have given Buprenorphine once in the field and
transported the patient to UVMMC. Unknown on outcome but will follow up with Dr. Wolfson.
Members can now offer Buprenorphine to a patient suffering from withdrawals without having
had Narcan first.




We are tracking data from the CRT deployment. Below are some metrics showing the program's
impact. This data shows how many people the team has touched, the quantity of wound care
supplies handed out, comfort care supplies distributed, Narcan leave-behind kits distributed, the
number of referrals, direct phone requests, and incidents where the team went above and beyond
in their duties.
Total: 2587 1341 355 233 63 20 4
 # of # of Wound # of Comfort # of NLB Kits Total # Total Total
 Attendees Care Items Care Supplies Distributed Referrals/ Request Above &
 Distributed  Distributed Bridge to For CRT Beyond
 Service Members Incidents
 Providers Via Phone




3|Page
Administrative Division:
 Station 2 apparatus floor is being poured and should be ready for occupancy by July 1st.
 · Station 1 stairwell and basement work still pending contract approval by the city
 attorney’s office.
 · Floor sweepers have been purchased for Stations 2, 4 and 5.
 · BP Wastewater has been scheduled to jet the apparatus floor drains at all Stations except
 Station 2.
 · Mountain Air has been scheduled to complete HVAC PM work at all stations except
 Station 2.
 · Champlain Door Systems will be conducting apparatus door maintenance over the next
 few weeks.
 · Working toward parking lot and front ramp improvements for Stations 1, 3, 4 and 5.
 · Station 1 WiFi – In collaboration with City IT and Burlington Telecom, temporary
 improvements have been made to ensure adequate WiFi coverage.
Personnel:
 · Members have been submitting annual employee appraisals utilizing the revised process.
 Thank you.
 · We will have (6) vacancies by mid-Summer. Our entry-level firefighter application
 process will open July 1st.
Policies:
 · Introduced a new SOG that provides guidance regarding the use of background checks in
 our hiring process.
 · In the process of developing new SOGs to address accidents & injuries.
 · Will be reviewing all administrative SOGs to ensure all are current and applicable. If
 aware of any issues or have suggestions, please let me know.



Operations Division:
Purchased the following items that are now NFPA compliant to the 2025 standards.

 • 76 SCBA Units
 • 7 Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) Packs
 • 6 SCBA Units for Confined Space Operations
 • 100 Spare SCBA Cylinders
 • 101 Facepieces
 • 101 Face Mounted Regulators

Working group formed for new public safety building. Will be working with developers to come
up with conceptual designs and needs for a new firehouse/public safety building.

Prep for July 3rd event. Hiring extra members, creating Incident Action Plan.

Situation Table Training 6/24-6/25




4|Page
Fire Marshal’s Office:
 • The FMO conducted two fire extinguisher trainings for businesses in the City last month
 with the new fire extinguisher training prop. Attendees where excited to that they were
 able to see real fire instead of the usual video screen training they have received from
 other trainers in the past. Live fire is important to see because not everybody is
 comfortable around fire. This style of training helps them to decide if they want to fight
 the fire before evacuating.
 • BSD had a short run of students damaging chrome books by shorting out the charging
 ports because of TikTok challenges. We had one fire last month because of this which
 caused no building damage or injuries. TikTok challenges are always changing and the
 FMO has spoken with some students about the dangers of these challenges. I have
 offered to speak to all schools specifically about these challenges, but have not had a
 reply yet.
 • Construction is booming in the city. New construction as well as remodeling has taken
 off and a lot of large projects are in the pipeline, but are dependent on zoning changes.


Training Division:
 • We completed the Lateral Recruit Academy 25-01 on May 30, 2025. Captain Blake
 did a super job as always with the class. All recruits have been assigned to their
 respective crews and will complete their one-year probation. We learned a lot about
 running this academy for laterals both positive and negative. We will utilize the
 lessons learned going forward in future academies.
 • We are working with the US Coast Guard on a multi-jurisdictional drill coming up in
 August to be held at the USCG station Burlington.
 • We are pleased to advise that the AFG funding for our live fire training has been
 freed up and we will be scheduling these for this Fall. I am hopeful we will be able to
 complete these before the grant deadline of June 2026.
 • We are in to our summer training program where we are allowing more company
 level drills to be managed by the company officers. We provide the topic and the
 necessary tools and the officer coordinates on shift for completing the training. You
 may have seen our members at the waterfront for water rescue and or the Moran
 Frame &Rock Point for rope rescue or at any other location in the city. We have
 energetic, skilled and proactive officers and members honing their skills every day.
 • We have been adding to our drill yard at McNeil. A new container for storage of
 equipment was added to remove storage within the training building itself and we
 also are adding a 20-foot container to replace our wooden roof prop.
 • The BC of training was asked to conduct a training for VT 911 call takers in
 Montpelier on May 28th. The purpose of the training was to enhance knowledge of
 the fire service for those call takers/dispatchers.
 • The UVM Med Center tour and training proved beneficial when shortly thereafter we
 responded to an auto fire in the parking garage. Members operated efficiently and
 mitigated the problem quickly.
 • We have members attending water rescue and rope rescue training coming up. One
 of our members is finishing his two-week class at NFA.




5|Page
EMS Division:

The EMS Division is currently in the midst of our June department-wide training initiative. We
were fortunate to welcome Brigid Blazek, a certified de-escalation trainer and Community
Service Officer, who provided a condensed 2.5-hour de-escalation course to our department
members. This training was both timely and highly impactful, offering practical tools to enhance
our response strategies during high-stress interactions.

We extend our sincere gratitude to Brigid, the Community Service Liaisons, CAIP Division
Supervisor Lacey-Ann Smith, and the Burlington Police Department for their support and
collaboration. This partnership is particularly meaningful, as the Burlington Police Department
typically does not provide de-escalation training outside of their own personnel. Their
willingness to share resources with our division demonstrates a commendable commitment to
interdepartmental cooperation and public safety.

Following this training cycle, the EMS Division will shift focus toward several key initiatives:

 • Patient Safety SOG Update: We are in the process of updating and introducing a new
 Standard Operating Guideline focused on patient safety.

 • EVOC Refresher: In collaboration with the Fire Training Division, we will be
 coordinating a refresher course on Emergency Vehicle Operations Certification (EVOC)
 to ensure continued operational excellence and safety.

 • QA/QI Documentation Improvements: We are also partnering with our QA/QI
 Committee to evaluate and enhance our documentation practices, update relevant SOGs,
 and develop a clear, user-friendly documentation guide for our members.

We look forward to continuing these efforts to support our personnel, improve patient care, and
ensure high standards across all EMS operations

Below is information about response types, training information, and a company-level inspection
report.




6|Page
 Burlington FD
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT, 05401




April / May Total Incidents




INCIDENT TYPE SERIES NAME / INCIDENT TYPE TOTAL CALLS

False Alarm & False Call 235

700 - False alarm or false call, other 2

7001 - False alarm caused by Contractor/Construction 6

710 - Malicious, mischievous false call, other 1

711 - Municipal alarm system, malicious false alarm 2

712 - Direct tie to FD, malicious false alarm 1

731 - Sprinkler activation due to malfunction 3

733 - Smoke detector activation due to malfunction 60

735 - Alarm system sounded due to malfunction 23

736 - CO detector activation due to malfunction 2

740 - Unintentional transmission of alarm, other 10

741 - Sprinkler activation, no fire - unintentional 4




Report ID: 51595 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:59 PM Page: 1 of 3
 Burlington FD
April / May Total Incidents
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT,
 05401




INCIDENT TYPE SERIES NAME / INCIDENT TYPE TOTAL CALLS

743 - Smoke detector activation, no fire - unintentional 78

744 - Detector activation, no fire - unintentional 9

745 - Alarm system activation, no fire - unintentional 31

746 - Carbon monoxide detector activation, no CO 3

Fire 26

100 - Fire, other 1

111 - Building fire 7

113 - Cooking fire, confined to container 5

118 - Trash or rubbish fire, contained 4

131 - Passenger vehicle fire 1

140 - Natural vegetation fire, other 3

160 - Special outside fire, other 5

Good Intent 241

600 - Good intent call, other 82

611 - Dispatched & canceled en route 32

622 - No incident found on arrival at dispatch address 55

641 - Vicinity alarm (incident in other location) 1

651 - Smoke scare, odor of smoke 7

653 - Smoke from barbecue, tar kettle 1

661 - EMS call, party transported by non-fire agency 57

671 - HazMat release investigation w/no HazMat 4

672 - Biological hazard investigation, none found 2

Hazardous Condition 28

400 - Hazardous condition, other 2

411 - Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill 4

412 - Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 6

424 - Carbon monoxide incident 3

440 - Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 1

444 - Power line down 1

445 - Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 1

462 - Aircraft standby 1

463 - Vehicle accident, general cleanup 9

Rescue & EMS 1236




Report ID: 51595 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:59 PM Page: 2 of 3
 Burlington FD
 April / May Total Incidents
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT,
 05401




 INCIDENT TYPE SERIES NAME / INCIDENT TYPE TOTAL CALLS

 300 - Rescue, EMS incident, other 1

 320 - Emergency medical service incident, other 3

 321 - EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury 1187

 322 - Motor vehicle accident with injuries 19

 324 - Motor vehicle accident with no injuries. 7

 331 - Lock-in (if lock out , use 511 ) 1

 353 - Removal of victim(s) from stalled elevator 13

 360 - Water & ice-related rescue, other 1

 381 - Rescue or EMS standby 4

 Rupture/Explosion 1

 243 - Fireworks explosion (no fire) 1

 Service Call 88

 510 - Person in distress, other 1

 511 - Lock-out 1

 512 - Ring or jewelry removal 1

 520 - Water problem, other 1

 531 - Smoke or odor removal 2

 542 - Animal rescue 1

 550 - Public service assistance, other 12

 552 - Police matter 7

 553 - Public service 10

 554 - Assist invalid 38

 555 - Defective elevator, no occupants. Includes Elevator alarms. 1

 561 - Unauthorized burning 13

 Total 1855




 Report ID: 51595 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:59 PM Page: 3 of 3



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 Burlington FD
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT, 05401




April / May Training Report




TOPIC NAMES TOTAL HOURS

Aerial Operations 75

Aerial Operations, District Tours 8

Aerial Operations, Driver Training 22

Aerial Operations, Ground Ladder Training 8

Aerial Operations, Ground Ladder Training, PHYS FIT, Search & Rescue 38

Aerial Operations, PADO 38

Aerial Operations, ROPE OPS 1

Aerial Operations, TRUCK OPS 22

BFD ADMIN 4

BFD ADMIN, DEPT ORIENT, HR RECRUITS 36

BFD ADMIN, Ground Ladder Training 36

BFD SKILLS 11




Report ID: 52691 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:52 PM Page: 1 of 4
 Burlington FD
April / May Training Report
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT,
 05401




TOPIC NAMES TOTAL HOURS

BFD SKILLS, Hose Line Stretches, PHYS FIT, Pre-Planning, Standpipe 36
Operations

BFD SKILLS, May Day Drills, PHYS FIT, Rapid Intervention Teams, 36
SCBA, Search & Rescue

BLDG CONST, District Tours, Pre-Planning, Tactical 144
Tours/Familiarization

BLDG CONST, FORC ENTRY, PHYS FIT, Power Saw 44
Use/Familiarization, Pre-Planning

BLDG CONST, FORC ENTRY, PHYS FIT, Power Saw 45
Use/Familiarization, SCBA, VENT REC

COLLAPSE 1

COMPANY 2

COMPANY, ENGINE OPS 6

DEPT ORIENT, SCBA, SOG Review 36

District Tours 9

District Tours, Pre-Planning, Tactical Tours/Familiarization 78

District Tours, RECRUITS 36

Driver Training 26

Driver Training, EXISTING, NEW 3

Driver Training, PADO, PHYS FIT, Pump Operations 27

EMS CE 31

EMS CE, VT EMS Protocol Review 6

EMS CERT 6

EMS NEW 119

EMS NEW, EMS OUTSIDE, ROPE OPS 26

EMS RECRUITS, RECRUITS 36

ENGINE OPS 7

ENGINE OPS, Hose Line Stretches 45

ENGINE OPS, Standpipe Operations 36

EXTRICATION 2

EXTRICATION, PHYS FIT 36

FORC ENTRY 13

FORC ENTRY, Hose Line Stretches, PHYS FIT, SCBA, Search & 18
Rescue

Facilities Tour 10

Facilities Tour, Fire Alarm Systems, Fire Suppression Systems 39




Report ID: 52691 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:52 PM Page: 2 of 4
 Burlington FD
April / May Training Report
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT,
 05401




TOPIC NAMES TOTAL HOURS

Facilities Tour, Fire Alarm Systems, Fire Suppression Systems, 141
Standpipe Operations

Facilities Tour, Fire Alarm Systems, Standpipe Operations 30

Fire Inspector CE's 15

Fire Officer 10

Fire Officer , LEADERSHIP 10

Ground Ladder Training, Hose Line Stretches, SCBA, Search & Rescue 27

Ground Ladder Training, PHYS FIT, SOG Review, Search & Rescue 35

Ground Ladder Training, VENT REC 48

Hose Line Stretches 14

Hose Line Stretches, PHYS FIT 36

Hose Line Stretches, Rapid Intervention Teams 18

INDIVIDUAL 2

Inspection 1

MEDIC W/ FTO, Pre-Planning 21

NREMT Cardiology 8

OPEN WATER, PHYS FIT, SWIFT WATER, WATER RESC 54

Officer Development 15

PADO 9

PADO, PHYS FIT 38

PHYS FIT 48

PHYS FIT, ROPE OPS, ROPES 36

PHYS FIT, Radio Training, SCBA, SOG Review 36

PHYS FIT, Rapid Intervention Teams 36

PHYS FIT, TRUCK OPS 27

PHYS FIT, VENT REC 40

Power Saw Use/Familiarization 3

RECRUITS, ROPE OPS, ROPES 12

ROPE OPS 146

ROPE OPS, ROPES 4

ROPES 56

Railroad Safety, Railroad Train Safety, Railroad Yard-Safety 184

Rapid Intervention Teams, SCBA, Search & Rescue 34




Report ID: 52691 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:52 PM Page: 3 of 4
 Burlington FD
 April / May Training Report
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT,
 05401




 TOPIC NAMES TOTAL HOURS

 SWIFT WATER 7

 Search & Rescue 8

 TRUCK OPS 7

 VEH EX REC 27

 VT EMS Protocol Review 43

 (NULL) 3

 Total 2541




 Description: Total member training hours for last calendar month




 Report ID: 52691 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:52 PM Page: 4 of 4



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 Burlington FD
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT, 05401




Asset Checks Completed April / May




APPARATUS NAME TOTAL CHECKS

Ambulance 1 19

Ambulance 2 9

Ambulance 4 33

Ambulance 5 3

Ambulance 6 11

Battalion 1 5

Car 2 1

Car 4 1

Engine 1 13

Engine 3 25

Engine 5 22

Engine 6 7




Report ID: 50258 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:54 PM Page: 1 of 2
 Burlington FD
 Asset Checks Completed April / May
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT,
 05401




 APPARATUS NAME TOTAL CHECKS

 Ladder 2 21

 Ladder 4 24

 Ladder 6 6

 Rescue 1 4

 Tower 1 57

 Utility 1 3

 Total 264




 Report ID: 50258 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 01:54 PM Page: 2 of 2



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 Burlington FD
 Address: 136 S Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT, 05401




 Total General Fire Safety Inspections April/May

 FIRE STATION TOTAL INSPECTIONS COMPLETED

 Central - Station 1 3

 Station 2 3

 Station 3 4

 Station 4 2

 Station 5 2

 Total 14




 Report ID: 50255 This report was generated on : 06/16/2025 02:39 PM Page: 1 of 1



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Burlington Fire Commission Meeting
 Tuesday Jun 17, 2025 08:30-08:47
 Members Present: Chair Jacob Perkinson, Vice Chair Kevin McLaughlin (Via Zoom), Ashley
  Bond, Linda Sheehey, Monica Chapman, Deputy Chief of Operations Michael Curtin, and
 Administrative Assistant Meghan Sweeney
Call to Order – 08:30 am.
Motion to Amend/Adopt Agenda- No changes agenda is adopted and move forward to public
comment.
Public Comment – No members of public present in person or by Zoom.
Review and Accept Minutes- Minutes are deferred until next meeting when they have been
reviewed by all.
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 Fire Department provided updates on staffing changes, operational statistics, and equipment
upgrades, while also addressing recent challenges and preparing for upcoming events. The
department discussed plans for future ceremonies and commission presentations, deciding to
consolidate all presentations into the annual ceremony. A Board of Merit was convened to
review recommendations for merit awards related to Hurricane Dorian.
Next steps
• Chief to email out an update on the specifics of the US Coast Guard training exercise in
August.
• Josh Kirtlink to finalize the program for the upcoming awards ceremony.
• Fire Commission to decide on the future process for presenting commissions after the
upcoming awards ceremony.
• Fire Commission members to attend the awards ceremony next week.
• Fire Department to follow up with Dr. Wolfson on the outcome of the patient who received
Buprenorphine in the field.
• Fire Marshal to continue offering to speak at schools about the TikTok Chromebook challenge
safety concerns.
• Fire Department to schedule dates for the Live-Fire training funded by the AFG grant.
Summary
Fire Department Operations and Updates
The Fire Department provides an update on various matters. They report two recent resignations,
creating six vacancies, with plans to start recruitment in October. Personnel changes include
promotions for BC Troy Ruggles and Adam Savoy. The department saw a 12.35% increase in
calls during April-May compared to last year, and a slight increase in overtime. They discuss
equipment updates, including ordering new air packs and maintenance contracts for stations. The
Fire Marshal's office has been conducting extinguisher training and addressing a TikTok
challenge causing fires. The department is preparing for a July 3rd event and a multi-
jurisdictional drill with the US Coast Guard in August.
Annual Commission Presentation Ceremony
The meeting discussed upcoming ceremonies and commission presentations. The group decided
to have all commission presentations occur at the annual ceremony rather than throughout the
year. They reviewed and approved merit award nominations. The Board of Merit review board,
consisting of Commissioner Perkinson and McLaughlin, reviewed the nominations and approved
them. With no other discussion or questions, Commissioner Perkinson asked for motion to
approve them. Motion was made by Commissioner Sheehey and seconded by Commissioner
Chapman. All members were in favor and approved the awards.
Motion to adjourn made by Commissioner Bond and seconded by Sheehey. All in favor meeting
adjourned at 08:47 am.