Township EMS service leads fire calls in 2018

Fire and medical runs in Bloomfield Township have been increasing over the past 10 years, with 2018 leading the decade in the total number of calls for service, fire officials told the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees on Monday, June 24.

Bloomfield Township Fire Department Lt. Kevin Bailey said the department had 6,340 total runs in 2018. Of the total number of runs, nearly half included concurrent incidents, or occurred when the department was responding to two or more calls at the same time.

"Runs mostly come in during work hours, but we have them all night long," Bailey said while presenting the fire department's annual report. "There's no time that we aren't getting calls. There's no time that we aren't busy."

Overall, the department had 2,765 concurrent runs, accounting for 43.61 percent of all calls. Of those calls, 1,649 involved two incidents that occurred at the same time; 683 involved three incidents; 258 involved four incidents; 99 involved five incidents; 38 involved six incidents; and 38 involved seven concurrent incidents.

Medical calls made up the overwhelming majority of runs at each of the four fire stations in the township. The central fire station, or Fire Station 1, 1155 Exeter, responded to 1,323 incidents, including 320 fire-related calls; 550 medical calls; 422 calls for service; and 41 risk reduction calls, or those where firefighters might block roadways or other actions.

Fire Station 2, 1063 Westview, responded to 1,394 incidents, including 278 fire-related calls; 740 medical runs; 373 calls for service; and 17 risk reduction runs.

Fire Station 3, 4151 W. Maple, responded to 2,107 total incidents, including 490 fire-related calls, 1,122 medical runs, 472 calls for service, and 19 risk reduction requests.

Fire Station 4, 2389 Franklin Road, responded to 1,516 incidents, including 271 fire-related; 878 medical; 358 calls for service; and 10 risk reduction.

Bailey said the department looks for ways to get out on runs and improve safety. For instance, a leading cause of death among first responders is road accidents that occur when at the scene of an incident. Blocking roadways for other police and fire at the scene greatly reduces the possibility of those accidents.