Arlington Fire Department Publishes Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report

Published on July 01, 2025

By Susan Schrock, Office of Communication

Arlington Fire Chief Bret Stidham recently presented the department's Fiscal Year 2024 annual report to the City Council, highlighting technology upgrades, emergency preparedness planning, training, and other priorities designed to keep the 99-square-mile city safe.

Changes this past year include the initial work to transition from three-person staffing to four-person staffing, implementing a new mobile app that allows firefighters to see calls as they come in, and establishing a new indoor site to test the physical fitness of hundreds of firefighter candidates looking to join the City.

“Like many public safety agencies across the nation, we continue to face evolving challenges – rising call volumes, increasing complexity in emergency incidents, and the need to adapt to rapid technological change,” Stidham said. “Through it all, the men and women of the Arlington Fire Department have demonstrated resilience, innovation, and an incredible commitment to service.”

Arlington Fire Department FY24 Annual Report

Highlights include:

• 9-1-1 Communications answered 383,179 total calls in FY24, and dispatched 270,475 police calls for service, 58,141 (EMS) ambulance calls for service, and 53,504 fire calls for service. Overall, 92.32% of 9-1-1 calls were answered within 10 seconds or less, an improvement from the previous year.
• As part of the transition to four-person staffing, AFD has hired 62 new firefighters recruits and has welcomed 15 certified firefighters.
• Implementation of the Bryx Mobile App, accessible on phones and computers for real-time dispatch call updates, has resulted in an approximate 8% reduction in turnout times.
• The department provided services for 265 special events at AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field, Choctaw Stadium and other venues throughout the city in FY24.
• In total, 11,253 inspection activities were completed, including annual fire inspections, certificates of occupancy, and commercial building/fire permits.
• AFD personnel completed more than 4,200 hours of in-house continuing education to reinforce core operational tactics that support daily response readiness, including vehicle extrication procedures, electric vehicle fire response and search and rescue. This is an addition to technical and special operations training for large-scale events and emerging threats.
• Firefighters have collaborated with Arlington Parks & Recreation to remove potentially hazardous tress throughout city parks, which provides firefighters who respond to wildfires with training on proper ways to fell trees and provides a cost savings to the City.
• The Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Managements has been deeply involved in regional FIFA 2026 World Cup planning, including helping to establish the Regional Public Safety Planning Committee and the Emergency Management Expert Planning Teams.