Alabaster fire responses up significantly over 2015

Published 11:33 am Tuesday, February 7, 2017

By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The Alabaster Fire Department saw a significantly increased workload and completed many more training hours in 2016 compared with the previous year, according to year-end numbers recently released by the department.

During the month of December 2016, the department responded to 317 incidents, 208 of which were emergency medical responses and 47 of which were service calls. Twenty-seven incidents were good intent calls, 14 were false alarms, 11 were hazard reports and 10 were fire calls.

The department’s year-end total was 3,499 for 2016. The number was up considerably from the 2015 total, which was 3,256.

“Looking at the report, the incidents last year were up a lot over the previous year,” said Alabaster Councilman Greg Farrell.

In December, the Alabaster Fire Department saved $866,000 worth of property, bringing the year-end total to about $21.5 million.

The department’s number of ambulance transports also saw a slight uptick over the previous year, recording 1,581 transports in 2016 compared with 1,573 the previous year.

December was a busy community outreach month for the department, according to the report, as firefighters took 25 blood pressure readings at firehouses, installed 20 child safety seats, attended eight community events, gave eight firehouse tours, made 10 school visits, changed batteries in two smoke alarms and installed four smoke alarms.

Along with the increased number of responses also came an increase in training hours, as the department ended 2016 with 27,734 staff training hours, compared with 19,581 the previous year. Two firefighters also attended training at the National Fire Academy.