Rochester Fire Department presents strategic plan

(ABC 6 News) – Wednesday, the Rochester Fire Department presented an update to its strategic plan to serve the city more effectively.

One of the main issues the plan addresses is the geographic coverage — mainly looking to reach areas in northwest Rochester faster

“We know about the northwest part of the city in particular the area toward Dakota middle school is that it takes us about seven minutes to get up and to that area and that is what we consider a long response too long of a response time,” said Deputy Chief Holly Mulholland.

Another area of concern is the overwhelming number of calls.

At the downtown fire station, they have received so many that three different crews have to operate out of the same building.

According to projections, by 2027 the department would be receiving so many calls they wouldn’t be able to respond to every emergency.

“Ours went up so much in 2022 that when we re-ran those projections this year, that moved that potential up to 2024,” Mulholland said.