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Health & Fitness

Fire Department Annual Report Shows Drop in Calls For Service

During 2011, calls for emergency medical services represented 61% of all calls for the St. Charles Fire Department. This is by far the largest category of need of St. Charles residents.

The St. Charles Fire Department recently released its 2011 Annual Report. The report provides information regarding service to the community and highlights department activities.

The Fire Department responded to 4,511 calls for service in 2011, a decrease from 5,100 in 2010 and the 10-year high of 5,215 in 2006. The main reason for the decline is that the city's fire department no longer provides service to the area of the St. Charles Countryside Fire Protection District (now called Fox River & Countryside Fire & Rescue District). That area typically generated about 20% of the total calls for service or approximately 1,000 calls annually. For 2011, only 377 of the city's calls were generated by the District, as the service agreement terminated May 1, 2011.

While the separation had a significant impact on the volume of calls received, it did not impact the quality. The men and women of the Fire Department continue to provide exemplary service to the St. Charles community.

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During 2011, calls for emergency medical services represented 61% of all calls for the department. This is by far the largest category of need of St. Charles residents.

The Fire Department also handled 132 fires in 2011, representing approximately 3% of all calls for service. The majority of those fires were structure fires with the balance consisting of vehicle fire, brush fires, dumpster fires, and cooking/chimney fires.

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St. Charles maintains 3 fire stations. Station #1 (located downtown on Riverside Avenue) was the busiest station, handling 1,771 calls. This station maintains sufficient daily staffing to operate 1 engine or ladder truck and 1 command vehicle.

Station #3 (on Campton Hills Road) handled 1,404 calls. This station maintains sufficient daily staffing to operate 1 engine and 1 ambulance.

Station #2 (on Industrial Drive) handled 1,336 calls. This station maintains sufficient daily staffing to operate 1 engine and 1 ambulance.

Other highlights of the report include:

  • April was the busiest month of the year during 2011 when 429 calls for service were received. November was the slowest month of the year with 295 calls for service.
  • Saturday was the busiest day of the week with 682 incidents. Sunday was the slowest day of the week with 602 incidents.
  • The busiest hours of the day for the fire department were from 11 am – 2 pm with the peak hour for calls being 12 noon -1 pm.

 

In 2012, the St. Charles Fire Department will be pursuing accreditation through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). CFAI provides for a comprehensive self-assessment and evaluation model that enables fire and emergency service organizations to examine past, current, and future service levels and performance and compare them to industry best practices. For more information on the accreditation process, you can click here.

For more information, or to review the fire department's annual report in detail, please click here.

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