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Fire chief reports surge in calls; Brookville lends engine to neighboring department
Summary
Fire Chief Ron Fletcher said January call volume was roughly 26% above historical averages (209 calls in January) and the department dispatched personnel to a large barn fire in Dark County and lent a pumper to Lewisburg to support mutual aid efforts.
Fire Chief Ron Fletcher told council the department responded to an unusually heavy workload in January and remained busy into early February.
“January was more than 26% over our average and normally we handle 150-ish calls for service in a typical January in our history and we had 209 calls for service,” Fletcher said. He added that February’s first days were continuing at a similarly high pace.
Fletcher described mutual-aid activity including a multijurisdictional barn fire in Dark County that drew numerous departments. He also said the department lent its third pumper to Lewisburg when that neighboring department’s engine suffered a tank failure. Fletcher said the loaned engine helped ensure Lewisburg had apparatus available while Brookville continued to staff other calls.
“If we didn't loan a fire engine to Lewisburg, today while we're on a fire for hours, there would have been zero fire engines in Lewisburg,” he said, describing how mutual aid keeps neighboring services operational without compromising Brookville's response capacity.
Fletcher said the department remains “maintaining” despite the higher call volume and thanked personnel for their work.
