Mt. Vernon Register-News

Local

January 10, 2012

Jefferson Fire Protection District has record year

By RORYE O’CONNOR rorye.oconnor@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Jefferson Fire Protection District responded to a total of 927 calls for fires, medical emergencies and motor vehicle accidents in 2011.

“This year broke a record for us,” said JFPD Chief Mike Huntman. “We had 872 calls in 2010, and 927 is the highest number of calls we’ve ever been on.”

Those calls included four incidences of exposure, meaning an adjacent building to a fire also ignited, according to information provided by Huntman.

Huntman said when he first started at Jefferson Fire, the yearly amount of calls was about 200, but it has steadily increased through the years.

“I think everybody’s calls go up from year to year,” he said.

Jefferson Fire Protection District saw a drastic increase in the amount of loss from building fires, mainly due to the total loss of the house of Dr. and Mrs. Chow on Jan. 18, 2010, at 3001 Caroline Drive.

“There was a $2.5 million loss from one fire,” Huntman said. “Without that, a $633,000 fire loss is pretty well average. There was a $463,000 fire loss in 2010, and that’s a little higher. That’s not something we like to see jump up.”

The district had one civilian death, from a vehicle fire on Jan. 1, 2010, and one firefighter injury, which Huntman said was minor and did not cause loss of work.

JFPD, which serves more than 200 square miles in Jefferson County, fought 21 fires in buildings, including cooking fires and flue fires. It also fought 21 vehicle fires and 61 outdoor fires, including grass fires and trash fires.

JFPD firefighters responded to 513 EMS calls, including medical assists and emergency calls. They responded to 59 vehicle accidents with injuries, one motor vehicle vs. pedestrian accident, and 50 accidents with no injuries. Three victims had to be extricated from their vehicles.

In addition, JFPD volunteers responded twice to remove people from stalled elevators, and conducted one water or ice-related rescue.

Huntman said medical calls are at least 70 percent of what the district and its four stations respond to.

“That’s anything from the flu to cardiac arrest,” he said.

Huntman said Jefferson Fire Protection district comprises 32 volunteers and four paid positions, including himself and three captains.

The main station is located in Mt. Vernon, with three other stations in Dix, Opdyke and Ina.

“We’ve got pretty good guys and girls on the department,” he said.

“They respond to fire and EMS calls, as well as devote a lot of their time to training.”

Text Only
Local