An Overview of the Upper Arlington Fire Division:

The Upper Arlington Fire Division provides primary Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Medical Services for over 35,000 residents of Upper Arlington, and parts of Clinton and Perry Townships.  The city, located in the northwest Columbus (OH) metropolitan area, encompasses approximately 10 square miles.  Considered an "upscale bedroom community," the city contains over 13,000 residences and nearly 4000 commercial occupancies.

Click here to read about the early history of Upper Arlington and our Fire Department!

Emergency Services:
House fires, car fires, fire alarms, burnt food on the stove, suspicious packages, automobile crashes, injured people, people who can't get up off the floor, ill people, those suffering from a heart attack or stroke, persons whom aren't breathing, or whose hearts have stopped - These are the places we're called to each and every day.  Without hesitation we respond to your worst hour, and we won't leave your side until a resolution has been made.  

Non-Emergency Services:
The Upper Arlington Fire Fighters and the UAFD offer a wide range of non-emergency services to its residents as well, including: home fire prevention inspections, smoke detector inspections and installations, station tours, blood pressure screenings, public speakers, carbon monoxide checks, fire safety education within the school system, senior programs, juvenile fire-setter intervention, demonstrations at community events, senior prom-promise demonstrations, health-fair participations, etc...

Personnel:
After a downsizing in the mid-1990s, the Fire Division has 61 sworn firefighters, 1 management assistant, 2 administrative assistants and 1 part-time public education coordinator.  All firefighters are cross trained as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and greater than half are EMT-Paramedics.  All company level members are career firefighters.  Upper Arlington Fire Division does not staff part-time or volunteer firefighters.

Fire Division Organization:
The Division is led by Fire Chief Mitch Ross, and the three duty-shifts are led by Battalion Chiefs Jerry Moore, Steve Breece, and Chris Caito.  There is a Captain and Lieutenant on each shift serving as company level officer, with 15 firefighters in each of their ranks.

Stations:

Vehicles and Equipment:
The Division responds with an Engine/Rescue or Ladder truck, both staffed with a minimum of three firefighters and one company officer (Lieutenant or Captain).  Also responding are Medics, each staffed with three firefighters. Every truck in the Division is staffed with at least one EMT-Paramedic (except the Medics, that each have two EMT-Paramedics) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Each also carries a full complement of Advanced Life Support (ALS) Equipment.  

The mission of the Division in a medical emergency is to assure that the closest vehicle, thus the closest Paramedic and ALS care, is sent to be at the patient's side in the quickest means possible. This is why you will likely see a fire truck on the seen of a medical emergency.

On the same hand, all firefighters, regardless of the vehicle they are riding, carry their full array of firefighting protective gear, including fire coat and fire pants, leather boots, helmet, hood and gloves, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) with personal mask, and hand tools.  This allows early search and rescue intervention on the fire scene, including a full staff trained and proficient in the aggressive "Vent/Enter/Search" technique of victim rescue.

Response Times:
An Upper Arlington resident can expect help to arrive within four minutes of dispatch in any part of the city.  This response time is considered optimal for fire suppression, and falls well within the guidelines of the American Heart Association for improved survivability rates from sudden cardiac death (the survival rates of cardiac arrest patients for the Upper Arlington Fire Division is over four times the national average!)

Mutual Aid / Automatic Response:
The UAFD has aid agreements with all fire departments in Franklin County.  With only one fire engine and one ladder truck, the Division depends upon it's neighbors to fill fire responses.  On every fire run, and on occasional EMS calls within the community, equipment is dispatched from a neighboring community to fill out the needed assignment.  Upper Arlington equipment is, in turn, frequently dispatched by it's neighbors when UAFD vehicles are the closest available to an emergency call outside of our city. (Without these agreements, the division would require costly additional manpower, vehicles and equipment to provide basic service coverage to it's residents).

Upper Arlington Fire Fighters, P.O.Box 21271, Upper Arlington, Ohio, USA, 43221
Any questions, inquires or comments?  Let us know!

Our family serving your family since 1930!