Columbus Division of Fire

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10/16/2026

Columbus Division of Fire 2026 Promotions Ceremony.

October 16, 2026.

Congratulations to Firefighter Elizabeth Finnegan and her K9 partner, Norbert, on being selected for the 2027 Internatio...
10/15/2026

Congratulations to Firefighter Elizabeth Finnegan and her K9 partner, Norbert, on being selected for the 2027 International Women on Fire—Fierce on the Frontline Calendar!

Firefighter Finnegan has served with the Columbus Division of Fire for almost 10 years. She and Explosive Detection K9 Norbert are members of the Columbus Division of Fire Bomb Squad.

The calendar is produced by Oklahoma Women on Fire, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting women in the fire service, developing future female firefighters, and raising funds to help children battling pediatric cancer.

If you would like to support the Oklahoma Women on Fire’s mission by purchasing a calendar, please visit-

https://tulsa-metro-women-on-fire.myshopify.com/collections/the-famous-calendar/products/2027-international-fierce-on-the-frontline-calendar?fbclid=IwdGRzaAUnQkBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mAXNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHv_rQ-r-qeXAJvymDY1Z5QMCy0jNK97rvcVjl5a7p1IcfcSMLN6SCBJL2CP__aem_0VXO7YUecpvaRGu74azh1g

Members of the Columbus Division of Fire recently helped facilitate The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Emer...
10/08/2026

Members of the Columbus Division of Fire recently helped facilitate The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Emergency Medicine team’s annual Disaster Day, a hands-on training experience for emergency medicine residents and EMS fellows. Columbus Fire members supported the scenarios and shared their prehospital expertise as the doctors practiced managing a trauma surge and providing care in both prehospital and hospital disaster settings.

The training featured four stations. One station simulated a stadium collapse and taught SALT triage—Sort, Assess, Lifesaving Interventions, and Treatment/Transport. Physicians responded to simulated victims, assessed their conditions, and tagged each person with a color-coded ribbon indicating the priority for care. Black — Expectant: Injuries are too severe for the person to survive. Red — Immediate: Injuries are life-threatening and require immediate care. Yellow — Delayed: Significant injuries require treatment, but care can safely wait. Green — Minimal: Injuries are minor.

The other stations featured a pediatric-focused emergency room surge tabletop exercise, virtual reality SALT triage training, and Stop the Bleed procedures.

Participants also rode in the back of a medic unit with a simulated patient during a mock trip to the hospital. The experience offered a close look at the treatments paramedics can provide en route to the emergency department and the challenges of caring for a patient in a moving vehicle.

Training like Disaster Day strengthens coordination between first responders and others who provide prehospital care and hospital teams.

This week marks the 105th Fire Prevention Week, but for the Columbus Division of Fire’s Fire Prevention Bureau, every we...
10/06/2026

This week marks the 105th Fire Prevention Week, but for the Columbus Division of Fire’s Fire Prevention Bureau, every week is fire prevention week.

When many people think of the fire department, they picture firefighters and paramedics responding to a blaze, a medical emergency or another crisis. For the Columbus Division of Fire, however, the work begins long before an alarm sounds.

“When people think of the fire department, they think about the EMS side and the suppression of fires and responding to various other emergencies,” said Melvin Hart, interim assistant fire chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau and interim fire marshal. “But actually, the first line of our mission statement is preventing emergencies through education and inspection, and that’s what this bureau does.”

The Fire Prevention Bureau comprises several specialized sections including, Community Risk Reduction, District Inspectors, Pyrotechnicians, High Hazards, Public Assembly, Plans and Reviews, and the Fire and Explosive Investigative Unit, which conducts arson investigations, and the Ignitable Liquid Detection K9 teams.

The bureau’s work touches the lives of everyone in Columbus. Every public building residents enter and every public event they attend is safer because of fire-prevention efforts. Inspectors check approximately 40,000 occupancies each year. Before a building is constructed, Plans and Reviews personnel work to ensure it will be safe.

The bureau’s oversight extends to some of the city’s most visible celebrations. Whether spectators are watching the massive fireworks display at Red, White & BOOM! or the pyrotechnics launched from the scoreboard after a Buckeye touchdown, they can be assured those displays have been thoroughly checked by the department’s pyrotechnics inspectors.

The Fire Prevention Bureau not only works to keep public spaces safe; it also helps people protect themselves through its Community Risk Reduction team. The team offers safety programs for people of all ages, along with fire-extinguisher training. Residents may also contact Community Risk Reduction to have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms installed in their homes.

This year’s Fire Prevention Week theme is “Charge into Fire Safety. Safe Charging is a Superpower.” Hart offered four practical tips for charging devices safely:

· Feels hot? Stop using it.

· Cheap charger? Don’t chance it. Use the cord and charger
that came with your device or one approved by the
manufacturer. The wrong charger can damage the battery and
increase the risk of fire.

· If you have to jiggle the cord to charge, it’s time for a new
charger.

· Charge larger items outside and away from exits. E-bikes,
scooters and power tools use larger batteries that store more
energy. If those batteries fail, fires can grow and spread
quickly.

The Columbus Division of Fire invites the community to visit a local Columbus fire station for an open house on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 1 to 4 p.m.

For more information about public programs offered through Community Risk Reduction, visit www.columbus.gov/Services/Public-Safety/Fire/Community-Risk-Reduction.

Firefighters, families, friends and grateful members of the Columbus community gathered Sunday on the banks of the Sciot...
10/05/2026

Firefighters, families, friends and grateful members of the Columbus community gathered Sunday on the banks of the Scioto River for the annual Firefighter Memorial, a ceremony honoring active-duty and retired members of the Columbus Division of Fire who died during the past year.

The ceremony paid tribute to 32 current and retired Columbus firefighters who answered their last call between Sept. 25, 2025, and Aug. 19, 2026. Interim Fire Chief David Baugh read each name aloud as Lt. Kenneth Peters tolled the memorial bell in their honor.

Welcoming those in attendance, Baugh thanked the families for sharing their loved ones with the fire service and acknowledged the depth of their loss. “We recognize that the names we honor today are so much more than names printed in a program or spoken during a ceremony,” he said. “To you, they were husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, grandparents, brothers, sisters and friends.”

“They were the people whose voices you knew, the person you counted on, whose stories you heard 100 times and whose absence is still felt in ways the rest of us may never fully understand,” Baugh said. “But they were also part of another family—the Columbus Fire family.”

Baugh also reflected on the enduring legacy of firefighters and the families who support them. He described the courage required to watch a loved one leave home knowing that, when an alarm sounded, they would go wherever they were needed to help someone they had never met.

“A legacy isn't measured only by the fires they fought or the emergencies they answered, the rank achieved or the years written beside someone's name,” Baugh said. “It's measured by the lives they touched through continued stewardship of the Columbus Division of Fire. It lives in the firefighter who still tells a story about something your loved one taught them years ago. It lives in the traditions passed from one generation of Columbus firefighters to the next.”

The following men and women were honored during this year’s memorial.

Capt. James Alexander; FF Billy Almon; AC Richard Braun; FF John Burkey; FF Barbara Capuana; FF Michael “Joe” Carlisle; Lt. John Casey; FF Timothy Dennis; FF Leonard Figliola; FF Robert Foor; Lt. Richard Hayes; FF Frank Helenberger; Lt. Robert Herold; FF Robert Hollar; Lt. Duane Landis; FF Theodore Lathers; Lt. Donald Lee; Lt. Rodney Lee; FF Richard Luzader; FF Garald McDonald; FF Dorris Moore; FF William Myers; Lt. Mark Robinson; Capt. James Smith; BC Robert Smith; Lt. Rodney Smith; Lt. John Sullivan; FF John Temple; FF John Thornton; FF Lonnie Trott; FF Howard Unger; and FF Russell Young.

May their service, sacrifice, and legacy never be forgotten. Our thoughts remain with their families, friends, and the entire Columbus Fire family.

10/04/2026

2026 Firefighter Memorial.

October 4, 2026.

On Thursday, Sept. 30, the annual O’Keefe Memorial Golf Outing was held at Homestead Springs Golf Course. The event brou...
10/02/2026

On Thursday, Sept. 30, the annual O’Keefe Memorial Golf Outing was held at Homestead Springs Golf Course. The event brought together 28 teams made up of current and retired firefighters, as well as friends and family. What began as a small fundraiser organized by O’Keefe’s Fire Academy classmates to support his wife, Karen, and their children, Abigail and Evan, later grew into the Class 12.10.12 Foundation, which helped those in need throughout the CFD family, and now the outing continues as part of the Columbus Firefighters Foundation, with proceeds supporting scholarships for the children of firefighters.

O’Keefe was diagnosed with cancer while attending the training academy. Despite his diagnosis, he pushed forward and never stopped. He passed away on Dec. 26, 2014, leaving an indelible impression on everyone who knew him.

This year’s outing raised approximately $10,000 to carry that legacy forward. Thank you to every golfer, sponsor, volunteer and supporter who made the event possible.

We Did It!!!!Thanks to your incredible support, our photo, “Protecting Columbus,” placed first in Fire Department Catego...
10/02/2026

We Did It!!!!
Thanks to your incredible support, our photo, “Protecting Columbus,” placed first in Fire Department Category 1 of the Light Ohio Blue 2026 First Responders Photo Challenge!

Thank you again to everyone who voted and helped make this possible. We’re proud to represent Columbus!

On Friday, Sept. 25, the Columbus Fire Chaplain Team hosted its inaugural Clergy Outreach Day, bringing together Columbu...
10/01/2026

On Friday, Sept. 25, the Columbus Fire Chaplain Team hosted its inaugural Clergy Outreach Day, bringing together Columbus-area pastors and faith leaders who serve congregations that include Columbus firefighters.

The event was designed to help clergy better understand the distinctive pressures firefighters and paramedics face and to provide practical tools for offering informed spiritual care and support.

Members of the Chaplain Team and Peer Support Team led attendees through a wide range of topics, including critical incidents, post-traumatic stress injury, the 24-hour work shift, environmental exposures, sleep deprivation, cumulative stress, moral injury, adverse childhood experiences, compassion fatigue and crises of faith.

Discussion also focused on the role of faith, values and spirituality in firefighters’ lives, along with resources available through Columbus Fire Members Support and the Chaplain Team.

The program was led by Columbus Fire Chaplain Joe Lorenz, whose idea grew from a survey showing that 60% of firefighters said faith played an important role in their lives. Lorenz worked through the Division’s chain of command to develop an outreach program that would educate clergy and equip them to address firefighters’ unique needs.

“For this being the first event of its kind, I was very pleased and encouraged with the response, participation, connections made and feedback from both the pastors and Division of Fire,” Lorenz said. “With feedback from this year’s attendees, we hope to continue to build relationships through outreaches like this and others, and to continue to learn and develop the best practices to support the whole person of the firefighter and paramedic among our division.”

Nine pastors and church leaders attended this year’s event, along with members of the Chaplain Team and Peer Support Team. Interim Fire Chief Dave Baugh, Health and Safety Battalion Chief Aaron Shonkwiler, and Capt. Jerry Scott of the Members Support Unit also greeted attendees and answered questions.

Shortly before noon today, Columbus fire crews responded to a small kitchen fire in a unit of a multi-family dwelling on...
10/01/2026

Shortly before noon today, Columbus fire crews responded to a small kitchen fire in a unit of a multi-family dwelling on N. 4th Street.

Crews quickly contained the blaze, and no injuries were reported. Fire Investigator Weston Tomlin rescued Ashton the cat from the unit.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Address

3675 Parsons Avenue
Columbus, OH
43207

Telephone

+16142213132

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