BIFD open houses aim for community transparency
Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 10, 2025
The Bainbridge Island Fire Department kicked off the first of a series of open houses July 1 as part of the agency’s public outreach efforts.
“We just want to be able to provide an opportunity for the community to be able to get in each fire station and see their stations, see the equipment, and be able to ask questions and talk to firefighters,” BI fire chief Jared Moravec said.
Moravec said BIFD has approached public engagement from a broader perspective that goes beyond just hosting open houses. They host the pancake breakfast in October, Day of Preparedness at the end of September and participate in the National Night Out in August.
Between January and June of this year, the latest data available, BIFD responded to 1,806 calls, an increase of roughly 0.33% compared to the same period last year, per Kitsap 911 data. The department reported in 2024 that it responded to 2,694 EMS and rescue calls compared to 69 fire calls. Last year, the department also trained 646 community members in CPR.
Moravec said reimplementing a department newsletter that is mailed to island residents has been successful, resulting in “almost 100 requests for blue address numbers, which is a huge deal, because we have a saying that if we can’t find you, we can’t help you.”
The agency is also in the process of developing the third iteration of its strategic plan, Moravec said.
“We have our target date (October) for finalization and adoption of the plan. We’ll continue to work through the summer,” he said. “We received lots of good feedback, and we’re sorting through all that…and using that to help formulate where the department goes in the future.”
