The fire department’s year in numbers

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In addition to naming its Firefighter of the Year, the Farmington Fire Department released its year-end statistics last week. Did you know ...

Overall calls were down in 2009-10

The Farmington Fire Department responded to 257 calls from Dec. 16, 2009 through Dec. 15, 2010, which represents a 20 percent decrease in the number of calls from the same period, 2008-09. The majority of those calls were false alarms, though that number was down from 116 in 2009 to 89 in 2010. Most of the calls — 84 percent — were in the city of Farmington; the remainder went to the surrounding townships or mutual aid to other communities.

Firefighters were on scene in 7 minutes

The average response time, from the time of the page to the first unit on the scene in 2010 was seven minutes. The average number of personnel on the scene per incident was 15.

Five structures burned last year

In 2010, Farmington firefighters responded to five structure fires, six vehicle fires, 26 gas leaks, 10 carbon monoxide alarms and one combustible spill.

December was the busiest month

The busiest months in 2010 were, in order, December (33 calls), January (29 calls) and April (26 calls). The least busy months were October and November, with 15 calls each. On average, more calls came in on Mondays than any other day of the week, and most calls were made between 4 and 8 p.m.

Rescue squad calls were up

The Farmington Fire Rescue Squad responded to 272 calls in 2010, which represents an 8 percent increase over 2009. Of those calls, 225 were within city limits, followed by calls to Castle Rock (18), Empire (21) and Eureka (7) townships, as well as one mutual aid call.

Breathing problems were the most

common call

The majority of the calls – 53 – were for reports of breathing problems, followed by 47 accident transportation calls and 31 reports of chest pain.

December was busy for rescue, too

December was also the busiest month for the fire rescue squad, with 39 calls registered. July came in second, with 30, followed by January with 27. The slowest month was July, with 11 calls. Mondays are also the busiest days for the rescue squad, though most calls came in from noon to 8 p.m., on average.

Tags: public safety, news, farmington