| With the close of 2025, we begin 2026. We had a busy year, ending at a record 325 calls with a response made to every one of them. This is up from 257 last year. Our previous record was 261 which we've hit twice in recorded history. We've accomplished a lot this year, including starting a junior firefighter program, replacing our old mini-pumper, getting some new firefighters certified, as well as replacing some aging tools and gear. Our top responders for the year are: Lt. Marshall Barlow - 158; Chief Ethan Rouzee - 152; Firefighter Dylan Hawkins - 135; Lt. Marty Borror - 104; Firefighter Hunter Bishop - 99.
Of the 325 calls, 65 fires we were paged out; 31 of them turned into working fires, up from 26 in 2024. Our "Other" category was up from 71 calls in 2024, responding to 113 this year. This covers many types of calls, including cancellations, fire alarms, odor investigations, smoke investigations, technical rescues, landing zones and more. We were paged for 79 MVCs this year, of which 23 of them we were cancelled on, no wreck was found or we were stood down by law enforcement or EMS. We assisted EMS 68 times this year, just a bit up from 62 in 2024.
Chase 5 was the top responding apparatus, making 88 calls. Engine 56 responded to 82 calls. Squad 5 responded to 64 incidents. Our Mini-52 that we sold back in April made 20 calls and it's replacement, Attack 5 which arrived in August, responded to 31 calls. Before we sold our Tower 5 this year, it responded to 10 calls. Our tanker, Engine 55, took 18 calls this year. As a comparison, in 2024 the response statistics were: 34 calls for Engine 56, 23 calls for Tower 5, 55 calls for 52, 12 calls for Engine 55 and 58 calls for Squad 5.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us for the year, from the Buckwheat Festival goers and volunteers to everyone who came out to our gun bashes and bingos. We hope to have a few new things to announce in 2026 so stay tuned in the coming months for more! |
