The present disclosure relates to a method of fusion splicing an optical fiber. The method includes the steps of mechanically stripping a coating layer from the optical fiber to form a bare fiber end and inserting the bare fiber end of the optical fiber into a resistive heating element structure to remove residual coating from a cladding layer. The resistive heating element structure shapes a severed end of the coating layer such that the severed end is fully within a cylindrical envelope defined by a non-disturbed portion of the coating layer. The method further includes a step of loading the optical fiber into an alignment groove of a fiber alignment fixture such that the shaped severed end of the optical fiber is in contact with the alignment groove. The method includes a step of fusion splicing the bare fiber end of the optical fiber to a cable fiber.