Rudy Ruiz, Perrysburg’s new fire chief, knows the department will be forced to change while under his command, and those changes will be coming soon. 

“We are going to be changing some things, but we aren’t going to be changing things drastically,” Chief Ruiz said. “The reason we have to change things is that we have to grow. We can’t keep doing the same things over and over and expect different results. The world is changing around us, and we have to change with it.”

Chief Ruiz was sworn in on Oct. 26 after serving as acting fire chief for several months. He will be paid $94,148 annually. 

The most obvious change facing the department is the addition of a long-discussed second fire station, which should see construction begin in early 2018 and open for service in 2019. Chief Ruiz, hired as a deputy chief in August, 2015, developed a staffing model for the second station as his first task in Perrysburg.

“It’s going to be the same amount of personnel but split between two districts,” he said, which complicates how the department responds to an increasing number of calls. He is trying to determine how best to respond to those calls now, which has involved some experimentation. 

“We’re finding in some cases it works, and some cases it doesn’t,” he said. “We need to make sure we evaluate them before we get that second station.”

As the city has grown, so have the calls for service. The department is projecting a 34 percent increase in calls compared to 2010, and the majority of those calls are for emergency medical services. 

“We have a fire prevention component that reduces fires. It works. Why don’t we have a component to reduce EMS calls? We’re not addressing that,” he said. That can include simple things like ensuring elderly residents do not have tripping hazards scattered through their home. 

“A slip and fall in an elderly patient could mean a death sentence,” he said. “If we can help prevent that from happening in the first place, why wouldn’t we?”

That requires education for firefighters and community members, something retired Chief Jeff Klein knows Chief Ruiz can do well.

“He’ll be excellent,” Mr. Klein said. “He’s very in tune not just to the needs of the firefighter, but of the community as well.”

Chief Ruiz is heavily involved in professional development as chairman of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, teaching across the country. That brings fresh ideas to Perrysburg, Mr. Klein said, and builds a culture of continual improvement that he started as chief.

“There’s a high quality here,” Chief Ruiz said. “We may be the best, but we can be better.”

Chief Ruiz previously worked as Bedford Township’s fire chief from February, 2014, through July, 2015, when he was hired in Perrysburg. Prior to his time in Bedford, he worked in the Sandusky Fire Department for 23 years, the last seven as the department’s fire marshal. 

Contact Zack Lemon at zlemon@theblade.com, 419-724-6282 or on Twitter @zack_lemon.

First Published November 2, 2017, 7:30 p.m.