Dixon Firefighters Saw Rise in Emergency Calls in 2010

The Dixon Fire Department saw a slight increase in the number of emergency calls it responded to in 2010 – a year that was highlighted by many staff changes at the department.

During Tuesday’s meeting of the Dixon City Council, Dixon Fire Chief Aaron McAlister presented the department’s 2010 Annual Report.

Last year, the Dixon Fire Department responded to 1,831 emergencies – both in the City of Dixon and the fire district, which includes outlying areas – called in through the county’s 911 system.

In comparison, the department responded to 1,801 emergencies in 2009 and 1,992 in 2008. The calls include everything from structure, vehicle and vegetation fires to medical emergencies, hazardous material calls, vehicle accidents and mutual aid calls.

 Of the 1,831 calls handled by the department last year, 48.5 percent were medical calls.

“We do buck the nation trend with 48 percent being emergency medical (calls),” McAlister told the council. “Even after we add the vehicle accidents, the 10 percent vehicle accidents, we are still about 60 percent EMS. The national trend is more like 80 to 90 (percent).”

The second most popular call handled by the department in 2010 is classified as all other calls at 25.8 percent.

All other calls include ruptures or explosions with no fire; rescue services such as lock-ins; extrications and medical assists; hazardous conditions with no fire; service calls (public assistance, assist invalids, unauthorized burning, lock-outs, water problems); smoke odor removal; good intent calls and false alarms according to the report.

In 2010 the department fought 26 structure fires, 44 vehicle fires, 84 grass fires and 29 other fires. In addition, Dixon Fire crews handled 15 hazardous materials calls, 172 vehicle accidents, 60 mutual aid and 41 automatic aid calls.

“Simultaneous calls for service … this is the time when myself and the two duty chiefs get more nervous,” McAlister told the council. “Both of our engines are committed to emergencies.”

Last year the department handled 162 simultaneous calls – when the department handles two or more calls at the same time. When the department is faced with more than one call at a time, McAlister said that the department must consider calling in volunteer or off-duty firefighters, as well as mutual aid from nearby cities such as Vacaville.

Sometimes, the duty chief will respond to a simultaneous call as the sole resource for the incident, McAlister said.

In 2010, several changes within the department took place. Chief McAlister himself made the job transition from interim chief to permanent chief; and the department promoted two fire division chiefs and two captains.

The Dixon Fire Department is responsible for covering the city of Dixon as well as the 313 square mile Dixon Fire Protection District.

A force of 28 paid and volunteer firefighters staff the fire department. McAlister noted the response times within two specific districts in the department’s jurisdiction – District 40, the northeast portion of town divided by Almond Street, had a response time of 4:31; and District 41, the southwest portion of town divided by Almond Street had a response time of 5:27.

“District 41 is worth mentioning,” McAlister said. “It’s kind of the southwest portion of town … there is a discussion and plans for a fire station on that site at some point.”

Readers can see the 2010 Annual Report on the pages of Dixon Patch or directly at the Dixon Fire Department’s Web site.