BIFD reports strategic plan progress, staff overtime rates down
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 29, 2026
The Bainbridge Island Fire Department Board of Commissioners received an update about the agency’s progress towards completing goals in its three-year strategic plan.
“Considering it’s the first three months that we’ve had since the adoption of the plan, I’m pretty pleased with the amount of progress we’ve been able to make. It puts us on a really good path to being able to accomplish all 10 goals in the next three years,” BIFD fire chief Jared Moravec said.
The board previously approved a three-year strategic plan Jan. 14, which outlines 10 strategic priorities the department aims to accomplish over a roughly three-year time period. The priorities include: matching response capability to address identified risk and demand, and facilitating employee development to improve performance and job satisfaction, per the plan.
The goal of re-envisioning the department’s fleet replacement plan includes repair, refit, and replace options as well as all assumptions, timelines, and projected future costs. BIFD reports several developments, including: the current fleet list has been updated, review of current replacement criteria for response apparatus has started, and detailed analysis on ladder truck 23’s level of service started in January, with a preliminary report to the fire chief due July 1, per presentation materials.
Moravec also said the department has made progress in reducing staff overtime rates. From 2024 to 2025, BIFD reported a reduction in the number of shift overtime hours by roughly 50%, with overtime rates in the first quarter of 2026 continuing to reduce, the chief said.
“That overall translates into several positives. The first is that it reduces the number of hours that our personnel have to come in to work, so our folks are less apt to be burned out. They’re less apt to be subject to injuries, and that’s a really positive thing for our workforce. The other piece that goes along with that is that obviously it translates into a reduction of dollars spent on overtime to the taxpayers,” he said.
“We went through a period where we had some staffing challenges, and those staffing challenges subsequently put a strain on our personnel, and it resulted in a lot of shift overtime. 2024 was a year in which we saw the largest amount of shift over time hours worked in the department’s history,” Moravec said.
In March, BIFD responded to 312 calls, including 216 EMS calls, and 96 fire/rescue/other calls.
