Note to readers:
The following item is a written record of the Ward 7 meeting from Sept. 16, compiled by Akron Documenter Rebecca Ritterspach. It is not a reported story.
Documenters are residents who are trained to observe and document local government meetings. Their notes are edited before publication for clarity and accuracy — unless quotation marks are used, all text is paraphrased.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalakron.org with "Correction Request" in the subject line.
Summary
- Akron Fire Chief Leon Henderson attended as a guest speaker and thanked residents for their interest in speaking with him about where their Akron Fire Department tax dollars go.
- Henderson discussed challenges facing the AFD, while highlighting department successes such as consistently low call response times and the utilization of a mobile mental healthcare unit.
- Ward 7 Council Member Donnie Kammer began the meeting by endorsing Tania Nemer, who is running for Summit County Common Pleas Court.
Documenter’s follow-up questions
- Henderson said that people call 911 for “everything.” Is there a public database available that breaks down the volume of annual AFD calls, including what types of services are being requested?
Ward 7 Council Member Donnie Kammer began the meeting by endorsing Tania Nemer, a candidate for a seat on the Summit County Common Pleas Court.
Akron fire chief discusses station improvements, 911 calls
Akron Fire Chief Leon Henderson began his address to attendees by introducing five members of Firestone Park’s Station 13 crew and said, “I wanted them to come out and meet the people that they serve.”
Henderson introduced Lt. Brandon Burns, who said he was honored to serve Akron residents.
“It seems like Firestone Park is a very tight-knit community where we care for each other,” Burns said. “It’s an honor to be able to go and still see that in the busy world that we have going on today.”
Henderson, who has been with AFD for 36 years, expressed appreciation to attendees for their interest in having a conversation about where their tax dollars go, referring specifically to fire department operations.
He outlined recent improvements to Station 13, including tree line maintenance, an oil-based refinishing of station floors, and general clean up around the building.
AFD staffs 13 departments across Akron
Henderson continued, describing the available resources and challenges faced by the department.
- AFD comprises 13 stations with 13 frontline medical units, plus engines, ladders and “an assortment of resources at each station.”
- The department has seen an increase in calls for services in the last year. “911 has gotten to be too good of a system,” Henderson said. “Everybody calls 911 for everything.”
- He said AFD strives to be consistent with call response times, providing the example that every call for fire service receives a resource on-site within 4 minutes, on average, and emergency medical service calls receive an on-site resource within 8 minutes and 30 seconds, an average within national standards. Henderson said that, in Akron, “We can get to anywhere with our med units, with our deployment strategy model, within six minutes.”
- Akron now has a mobile crisis unit for behavioral issues and mental health crises.
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Chief discusses 911 calls across the generations
- Henderson encouraged people to call 911, even if it is not a life-threatening emergency, so that an alternate response vehicle can be deployed.
- Henderson described the load placed on the department when minor incidents, including bloody noses, hot flashes and stubbed toes, are being called in with requests for emergency services.
- “We are actually trying to meet our demands for a heart attack, a stroke, somebody that had a bad accident, life-threatening issues,” he said. “The public just kind of forgot about those things.”
- He said that people in Generations X and Millennials are “not built like us. They’re just not tough.” He said they always ask “why” and try to understand things, whereas his generation was more likely to follow orders. He added that, “Now you have a generation that really can’t do a lot for themselves, and they want to call us for those things.”
- Henderson highlighted the department’s successes and said that it has been named one of the top departments in the country.
- The department has hired a contractor to assess what is going well, what can be enhanced and what can be improved.
- “Hold us accountable to what we say we’re going to do so we can do better,” Henderson requested of attendees.
EMS calls have increased over past three years
Henderson also talked about budget cuts in 2026 that reduced overtime funds.
Financial restrictions, he said, have led to a reduction in overtime hours, and the department has had to be strategic in continuing to provide comprehensive care and having no gaps in service, despite financial challenges that affect staffing.
The department sees its heaviest call volumes between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. Henderson noted efforts to disperse resources across that time period so that the public never sees a lapse in response time.
June 1 – Sept. 1 are historically the busiest time of year for department calls for service, he said. He noted that EMS calls during those months have gone up each of the past three years. In 2024 there were more than 12,180 calls across the city’s 13 stations. There were 12,472 in 2025 and 12,845 in 2026, Henderson said.
