Jeffrey Siegel, interim chief of the Richmond Fire Department, delivered the department’s FY25 second-quarter update, reporting incident counts, response-time metrics, specialty-call volumes, fleet status and progress on two new fire stations.

Siegel told the committee the department responded to 293 fire incidents and 5,222 EMS incidents during the quarter. Median turnout time (alert to apparatus departing the station) for fire incidents was reported as 49 seconds, median travel time 3 minutes 23 seconds and median total response time 4 minutes 36 seconds. The department also reported 90th-percentile response benchmarks for fire incidents: turnout 1 minute 27 seconds, travel 7 minutes 1 second and total response 8 minutes 38 seconds.

For EMS calls, the department reported a median turnout time of 54 seconds, median travel time of 3 minutes 34 seconds and median response time of 4 minutes 52 seconds. The 90th-percentile turnout for EMS was 1 minute 32 seconds, 90th-percentile travel time 6 minutes 39 seconds and a 90th-percentile overall response time of 8 minutes 17 seconds.

Siegel described specialty-call volumes for the quarter: eight water-rescue calls (including watercraft rescues and river searches), 69 technical-rescue calls (building collapse, complex extrications and similar incidents) and nine hazardous-material responses. The department reported 29 displacements in the quarter, coordinated with the Red Cross and other stakeholders for shelter and relocation assistance.

On investigative work, Siegel said the department recorded 14 arson investigations during the quarter with a case-clearance rate of 57.14 percent (eight of 14 cases closed through arrest or other actions). The Fire Investigation Bureau also reported nine other investigations classified as undetermined (six closed, three open).

Siegel reviewed fleet and capital progress: the department operates about 20 frontline engines and eight frontline truck companies (28 frontline apparatus total), with apparatus ages ranging from model-year 1998 to 2024. He said four battalion chief command vehicles are being outfitted, and three to five new engines are scheduled for delivery in spring and early summer, with two additional engines expected by fall 2025, yielding a total of five new engines that the department expects will reduce the average age of frontline units.

Siegel said the city has two stations under construction. Fire Station 12 was near final punch-list completion and expected to be turned over for occupancy "any week now"; Fire Station 21 was on track for a fall completion date. Siegel highlighted station design features intended to protect responder health and privacy, including internal decontamination areas, on-site fitness space and community meeting rooms. He noted Station 12 received a design award from a professional industry organization for design excellence.

On staffing and training, Siegel said the training academy began a recruit class in January; presentation remarks identified an initial class size of 29 recruits with 17 identified as female, and the chief said current enrollment in that class was about 24 recruits. He said the department expects the graduating class to increase the share of female career firefighters in Richmond to above national averages. Siegel also described ongoing training in swift-water rescue, rope rescue, SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) accountability/telemetry and Richmond’s Engine Operator training program (REopt).

Committee members thanked staff for the work; several members indicated interest in station tours and in-person demonstrations of training. No formal committee action regarding the department update was recorded in the transcript.