The Bainbridge Island Board of Fire Commissioners discussed ongoing updates to strategic planning efforts as part of both its Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 meetings.

BIFD fire chief Jared Moravec said the department is evaluating the role of volunteers at the department as part of the strategic planning process.

“The direction I want to move the department…is a direction towards broader community engagement and opportunities for folks to be involved with the department, and one of the best ways to do that is to expand opportunities in roles other than firefighting and EMS. We have had those roles, and the training requirements, not just for initial training, but the ongoing training requirements, are very hard to achieve,” he said. “And as a result of that, not as many people are able to participate.”

The Washington Board for Volunteer Firefighters, which tracks volunteer firefighters statewide, reported in 2015 that there were 14,040 active volunteers statewide, which decreased to 10,179 in 2025. In 2025, BVF reported in Kitsap County, 87 active volunteers at five fire departments, compared to 223 volunteers across the same departments in 2015, Hailey Blankenship, BVF executive secretary, said. BIFD has five active volunteers in firefighter/EMS roles in 2025.

Moravec said the department has no plan to make changes for existing volunteers as the strategic planning efforts aim to bolster additional volunteer opportunities outside of traditional firefighter/ EMT roles in the future.

“So by looking at some innovative ways to integrate volunteers in other roles in the organization, (it) is a way that we can achieve broader community engagement,” Moravec said.

Moravec said part of the strategic planning process is also exploring broadening partnerships with other community organizations, such as Bainbridge Prepares, who have hundreds of volunteers trained in various emergency roles.

“We’re not looking for Bainbridge Prepares to supplement day-to-day fire and emergency medical services operations. We are looking for them to be a force multiplier when we have big events, and frankly, they’ve been able to demonstrate that they’ve been reliable to be able to fill those kinds of gaps so that we can focus on 911 services,” Moravec shared with the board Oct. 15.

BIFD is currently in its third strategic planning effort, with the most recent plan approved in 2019. Throughout the course of strategic planning efforts, BIFD has reduced strategic priorities from 27 to roughly 10, which the department aims to work towards over the next few years.

“What we’re looking at for this upcoming plan, because of the speed at which things seem to change in the world we are right now, we’re looking at a three-year plan duration,” he said.

At the Oct. 15 board meeting, Moravec also discussed how the department intends to address strengthening health, wellness and well-being as part of the strategic planning process. This includes looking at best practices on cancer prevention, sleep disruption on first responders, and continued physical fitness.

Moravec said BIFD is continuing to address remaining work, finalizing strategic details to provide the board with a draft strategic plan, which Moravec said the department hopes to finalize by the end of the year.

“There is a lot of moving pieces and parts behind making sure that when someone calls 911, because someone’s having a medical emergency or they have a fire or some other type of problem, there’s a lot of moving pieces and parts go into making sure that we have the right people and the right equipment and the right training to make sure that we’re going to get there at the right time to be able to address that problem,” he said.

The next board of commissioners meeting is scheduled for Nov. 12.