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Welcome to my site and thank you for reading. After many times thinking, if only I had a blog, well-- here we are. This blog will feature writings on a variety of topics from roadside food, to leadership in the fire service; politics; culture- gay, straight, and indifferent, my experiences in Ohio, New York and beyond; and much much more. It's my hope that you will find it interesting and that it stirs at least some thought and discussion. I am certain you wont always agree, but that is what its all about right? Oh and one more thing:

The views expressed on this site are entirely my own. They do not reflect in anyway the views or positions of my employer (s) and should not taken as official policy of ANY organization with which I am associated. Reading or sharing any post from this site shall be taken as an indication that you have read this disclaimer and understand it.



Tuesday, November 22, 2016

A Map of the Future


When people talk about the need for additional fire stations in Columbus, I don't think they realize just how big the scale of the issue is.  Much like in the late 1880s and the late 1950s, Columbus finds itself needing at least ten new fire stations.  

To provide some idea of where they are needed, check out the map this link: Proposed CFD Stations  You will find some suggestions that might be new or perhaps controversial.  Not the least of which is fixing the location of Station 28 and placing a new firehouse on the north end of Easton.  Additional "in-fill" stations are identified for Marion-Franklin, Frank Road, and Trabue Road.  As a reminder, in developed areas, the standard is that every address should be within 1.5 miles of a fire station.  

In some of these cases, it may be time to work with surrounding departments to identify ways to cooperate on firehouse construction.  For example, a new 12s could be built to house both CFD Station-12 and Franklin Township 192s.  Same on Frank Road where a new firehouse could serve both the needs of Columbus and Station 193.  In the growing area west of Station-34, located not far from a proposed Washington Township fire station, a cooperative effort may also be the way to go.  

No matter how the solution is reached, however, Columbus is far behind in its need to add fire stations in both the outlying areas of the city as well as some of the urban core.  The impending construction of Station 35 on Waggoner Road is a start, but it must be followed up by a concerted effort to catch-up or response times to fires and emergencies, as well as dependency on mutual aid partners, will only increase.