The History of Upper Arlington's Fire Division

A History Speaks Event (Nov 3, 2024). Many thanks to our series lead sponsor, First Merchants Bank, and to a grant from UA’s Community Relations Committee that allows us to video record the event.
Join us as we travel the decades since Upper Arlington formally established a municipal fire department on December 1, 1930. See how the people, the equipment, and the techniques have evolved to meet the challenges faced by today’s emergency responders. After the presentation, attendees visited Fire Station #72 on Reed Road.
Our presenter, Dan Kochensparger, is the Upper Arlington Fire Division’s volunteer historian. He served as a UA firefighter for 33 years and is a two-time recipient of the Upper Arlington Liberty Mutual Firefighter of the Year Award. He was named grand marshal of the 2015 UA Independence Day parade. While a UA firefighter, he deployed to the World Trade Center collapse as a member of Ohio Task Force One, one of 28 urban search and rescue units that are part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In recognition of his participation in the recovery effort at Ground Zero, he was chosen as a torchbearer for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
Prior to his service at Upper Arlington, he was the EMS coordinator for the Perry County, Ohio EMS in southeast Ohio. He also was an assistant EMS instructor in the emergency medical program at Hocking College in Nelsonville. He began his fire service career in 1976 as a volunteer with the New Lexington, Ohio Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree from Kent State University, where he served four years as an emergency medical technician on the campus volunteer ambulance service.