By Mayor Tim Busse
As you may know, the City is in a years-long process to evolve the Bloomington Fire Department into a department served by a combination of full- and part-time firefighters.
The reason for the change is, of course, improved public safety. The men and women in BFD do an outstanding job, but they are very busy and staffing shortages continue to be the main reason why response times are not where we want them to be.
When I say busy, I mean in 2025, BFD responded to more than 11,700 calls for service, including 19 structure fires and thousands of medical emergencies. So far in 2026, call volume is already up another 4% with about 70% of calls being medicals. The need for service is citywide.
When talking about fire calls for service, response time is crucial. The goal is for the first fire unit to arrive on scene within seven minutes and 30 seconds after receiving a call, and to do that 90% of the time. Currently, response times are around nine minutes, with some cases taking even longer due to staffing shortages.
To address these challenges, BFD Chief Ulie Seal and Deputy Chief Jay Forster presented a long-term staffing plan to the City Council in June that would expand full- and part-time staffing, consistently staff six fire stations, and improve emergency response across the community. The capital improvement plan includes reconstruction of Fire Station 4, 4201 W. 84th St., and reconstruction of three other fire stations.
This fire department transition is a heavy financial lift for Bloomington. It is also very important that we do this.
A big thanks to our firefighters, paramedics, inspectors and support staff for their dedication and service to our community every single day.
