The St. Charles Fire Department recently released its 2012 Annual Report. The report provides information regarding service to the community and highlights department activities.
The Fire Department responded to 4,217 calls for service in 2012, a decrease from 4,511 in 2011 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. The service agreement terminated May 1, 2011 and 2012 marks the first full year that the City did not serve District residents.
During 2012, calls for emergency medical services represented 60% of all calls for the department. This is by far the largest category of need of St. Charles residents.
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The Fire Department also handled 157 fires in 2012, representing approximately 4% of all calls for service. The majority of those fires were structure fires with the balance consisting of vehicle fire, brush fires, dumpster fires, grass/brush fires, and cooking/chimney fires.
St. Charles maintains 3 fire stations. Station #1 (located downtown on Riverside Avenue) was the busiest station, handling 1,591 calls. This station maintains sufficient daily staffing to operate 1 ladder truck and 1 command vehicle.
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Station #2 (on Industrial Drive) handled 1,458 calls. This station maintains sufficient daily staffing to operate 1 engine and 1 ambulance.
Station #3 (on Campton Hills Road) handled 1,168 calls. This station maintains sufficient daily staffing to operate 1 engine and 1 ambulance.
Other highlights of the report include:
- July was the busiest month of the year during 2012 when 427 calls for service were received. February was the slowest month of the year with 290 calls for service.
- Sunday was the busiest day of the week with 632 incidents. Wednesday was the slowest day of the week with 584 incidents.
- The busiest hours of the day for the fire department in 2012 were from 10 am – 6 pm with the peak hour for calls being 10 am - 11 am.
In 2013, the St. Charles Fire Department is expected to be accredited by 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.
The men and women of the Fire Department continue to provide exemplary service to the St. Charles community. For more information, or to review the fire department's annual report in detail, please click here.
