Fire department sees decrease in annual calls
By Dana Casadei
The Bloomfield Township Fire Department annual report for 2023 was presented to the board of trustees at their meeting on Monday, May 13, where operations officer Kevin Cardinale indicated the department saw an overall decrease in the number of calls firefighters and paramedics responded to compared to 2022.
The department responded to 6,175 calls for service in 2023, compared to 6,385 calls in 2022.
Cardinale said this was the first time they have seen a decrease in calls in years, and noted, since many of their calls happen when there is bad weather, that a more mild winter and fewer thunderstorms could possibly be the cause for the decrease.
Out of those 6,175 calls, Cardinale shared that 65 percent were for emergency medical services, and the rest were fire-related or general service calls. One stood out from the rest as far as sheer volume: Station 3 – located in the southwest portion of Bloomfield Township on Maple Road and includes two nursing facilities – took 33 percent of last year’s calls, with a total of 2,057 incidents, 872 being fire or other, and 1,185 were medical calls, Cardinale reported.
Within the township, firefighters and paramedics may be spread across four battalions, but they constantly work together, especially on days when they are on multiple runs at the same time, which happens about 43 percent of the time. Cardinale said they can usually handle four or less at a time, but when it’s more than that, they often call on each other.
Throughout 2023, Bloomfield Township firefighters logged over 13,400 hours of training, averaging to about 250 hours per firefighter and is on trend with recent years. He noted this averages about 2.5 hours per firefighter per shift.
“It’s a dangerous job… we take pride in our skills and ability and being ready to go, and that’s how we do it,” Cardinale said.
There were plenty of other highlights throughout the year, notably 2023’s five new hires, and the department’s much-needed emphasis on equipment replacement.
In 2023, they were able to finally replace the 20-year-old county-wide radio system with help from Oakland County; purchase new stretchers; automated CPR devices for their ambulance;and new ballistic helmets and bullet proof vests.
For the last 15 years the department has been awarded many equipment grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and that was true for 2023 as well, when it qws awarded $146,770 from FEMA. This grant went towards all members of the department receiving in-depth health screening, new workout equipment for the fire stations, and training of those in the department to be peer fitness trainers and coaches.
The township also received a grant to overhaul and upgrade Bloomfield Township’s Emergency Operations Center, which totaled $241,688 from the federal government.
Cardinale noted that since 2000 they have received over $2.2 million in grants.
