Columbus police and fire divisions team up for community bike ride

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by Myles Harris, WSYX, August 26th 2023

Photo: Central Ohioans gathered Saturday morning at the Barack Community Center to ride bikes together and with first responders at the Bike with a Medic event, a community ride aimed at bridging the gap between the community and first responders. (WSYX)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Columbus police and Columbus fire worked together Saturday morning in an effort to better engage with the community.

Central Ohioans gathered Saturday morning at the Barack Community Center to ride bikes together and with first responders at the Bike with a Medic event, a community ride aimed at bridging the gap between the community and first responders.

"People see us at the stations and that's what they're used to seeing," Columbus firefighter Felecia Jackson said, "but we have a whole department that's involved in community engagement and letting people know what we do and the services we provide."

The event falls in line with the Division of Fire's service, offering the community a chance to learn lifesaving skills like CPR, and educating people on what it's like to be a first responder, educating in the hopes of recruiting people to join.

"We are trying to hire so many firefighters," Jackson said. "We have firefighters retiring so we need to replace those firefighters."

Jackson stresses all of this work is an effort to not only serve the community, but also hopefully save lives.