City of Overland Park Fire Department

2019 Annual Report

Our Mission: The Overland Park Fire Department is a value driven team of dedicated professionals committed to providing emergency, educational and specialized services for the purpose of saving lives and reducing property loss for the community we serve.

Welcome

"We serve an amazing community that provides us the best tools and trusts us to serve with integrity." Fire Chief J. Bryan Dehner

Who We Are

Established in 1919, Overland Park Fire celebrated its 100th year of service by recognizing the contributions of those who came before.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signs proclamation recognizing OPFD's 100th year of service.

Watch our "100 Years of Service" video.

Who We Serve

Overland Park, KS is located in Johnson County with a landmass of 75.6 square miles. A population of 195,040 makes it the second largest city in the state. Overland Park's 13.566 Mill Levy Rate is the lowest in county, yet this First Class City enjoys a AAA Bond Rating and an ISO 1 Rating.

The Overland Park Fire Department is CFAI Accredited and protects an assessed valuation of almost 3-billion dollars. We operate out of 6 traditional fire stations, 2 squad houses and a training center which also houses our administration.

Overland Park Fire also provides fire protection for our neighboring city of Merriam, KS to the north. We cover Overland Park & Merriam with six fire stations, two squad houses & our Administration/Training Center.

How We Serve

While Overland Park is the largest city in Johnson County, it boasts the lowest mill levy rate of 13.566, our 2019 Fire Department Budget was just over 24-million dollars. This includes our contract with Merriam, KS. (If you want to dive deeper into our finances, check out the 2019 Overland Park Budget. )

Our per capita cost was about 108-dollars. What do you get for $108? How about Fire & Emergency Medical Services, including Advanced Life Support (ALS) first response. How about Special Operations Teams, including Hazardous Materials & Technical Rescue. How about, Prevention & Public Education services, all while maintaining an Insurance Services Office (ISO) 1 Rating and Accredited Status from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).

Personnel

Total Paid Employees 185

Firefighters, Firemedics & Paramedics 114

Battalion Chiefs 6

Captains 18

Lieutenants 22

Administrative Staff 25

Volunteers Firefighters 3

Watch "Proud to Serve 2019"

Noteworthy Numbers

2019 Total Calls For Service 22,403

EMS Calls 18,242

Fire Calls 4,161

(Up more than 400 calls from year prior)

Average of 61 calls per day

Our call loads are steadily increasing, mainly due to medical response.

Response times:

If you called 9-1-1 for a fire or medical emergency (code 1 call) in 2019, the first responding unit arrived in 4 minutes and 3 seconds, on average!

OP, one of the best places TO LIVE!

Our 2019 sudden cardiac arrest save rate in Overland Park was over 45%! This is amazing, considering the national average is around 10%. We take a systems approach. Well trained responders, amazing 9-1-1 dispatchers, aggressive public education and phenomenal health care providers all contribute to this success. Laura Khalusi says the system works!

Place By Numbers

We work to place our resources in the most strategic locations. As our city grows & response densities change, we must work to adapt & best meet the demand.

This map illustrates call volumes for 2019 by areas of our city. We're constantly analyzing the most efficient ways to respond to your emergency quickly.

Stories To Tell

Each year we try to capture some of the amazing stories involving our people. From great saves to community interactions & public education, we strive to be good stewards of your trust. Here are few of the stories from 2019.

"Pat Gantt Story"

Nothing is scarier than responding to an emergency and realizing the victim is one of your own. We owe this success story to a quick thinking, young man named Trevor.

"Special Needs Day"

Each year we invite kids with special needs & their families to visit our Fire Training Center for a day of fun and education. The kids get to be the center of attention in a good way & we all get to know each other better. It's a win/win!

"A Tale of Two Fires"

We work closely with our media partners to provide transparency & accountability. Additionally, they help us share safety & prevention information. Here's a great example of leveraging these relationships to tell a great story. Thanks to WDAF-TV/Fox 4 News.

"Don't Trust Your Life To A 10 Yr. Old"

We also leverage the power of social media to broadcast safety information & even create our own public service announcements. Check out this unconventional approach to public eduction.

Check out our OPFDMedia YouTube channel for more great safety & emergency response videos!

New Faces

Each year we welcome new members to the Overland Park Fire family. We put these new family members through a Recruit Academy to learn the OPFD way. Upon completion they not only understand our protocols and operational philosophy, but also our culture. We invest significantly in these occupational athletes, expecting that they may spend a 20 year career with us!

This year we welcomed 11 new firefighters, transitioned 2 existing paramedics to firemedics and 1 inspector to firefighter. Check out their academy videos to learn more about these new public servants.

The amazing Training Staff behind the academies: Training Officer Angela Caruso-Yahne, Admin. Assistant Mary Bitter, Training Officer Jay Hall, Training Chief Gary Wilson, Training Officer Joe Stapp & Public Education Specialist Trisha Roberts.

Firefighter Michael Manns, Firefighter Bobby Eddy, Firefighter Ryan Schwendemann & Firemedic Brian Wells

Firefigher Austin Alley, Firefighter Nate Amos, Firefighter Andy Evans, Firefighter Liam Hedrick, Firefighter Nathan Johnson, Firefighter Kevin Kurta, Firefighter Jacob Maynard, Firefighter Clay McLaughlin, Firemedic Nick Wasser, Firefighter Ed Whelan

Fond Farwells

First responders will tell you it's not a job, but a calling. For this reason, many first responders enjoy long careers with us. In 2019, we said goodbye to three such men. One served 20 years, another 24 years and a third 25 years with the OPFD. It would be impossible to calculate the number of lives they impacted through their service to our community. We owe them a debt of gratitude.

Before retiring, Captain Scott Casey shared with us the story of how he became a first responder, along with some of the wisdom he's gleaned during his 25 years with the OPFD. Watch Captain Casey's retirement video to get an idea of the caliber of people who wear the patch of the Overland Park Fire Department.

Closing Shot

Photo by Jessica Barbee

On March 2nd, 2019 Overland Park Fire responded to a fire at the Greenbrier Apartments in the 8300 block of Antioch. The fire had communicated to the attic and displaced seven families by the time flames were extinguished. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings. This was the largest fire in Overland Park for 2019. {Photo by Jessica Barbee}