Tom Barton covers breaking news for The Island Packet. He is a Davenport, Iowa, native and 2007 graduate of Iowa State University. Before coming to the Island Packet he worked as a reporter at The Des Moines Register. He moved to Bluffton in July 2010. | 
Brian Heffernan covers the Town of Hilton Head Island for The Island Packet. He is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. | The Hilton Head Island Fire & Rescue Division presented a new strategic plan to the town’s Public Safety Commission on Monday.
The document — which gives an overview of the department’s services, goals and assessments — also included a list of 54 items for the commission to consider adding to the plan.
The commission plans to discuss the topics during two meetings, the first of which will be later this month.
The recommendations are separated into 10 categories. Highlights include:
• Color-coding fire hydrants to indicate their contents and rate of flow.
• Developing an interactive fire and life safety exhibit at a children’s facility like The Sandbox.
• An ordinance to prohibit open burning in residential areas.
• A program to remove low-hanging tree limbs.
• Prohibiting the sale and use of fireworks, except by licensed pyrotechnitians.
• Developing an off-island facility to use as an evacuation site for district employees to use during a hurricane.
• Getting a boat that can provide EMS care, control hazardous spills, and firefighting to the 21-square-miles of waterways within town limits.