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Westfield Fire Department reports rising call volume; chief says more stations needed to meet national standards
Summary
Fire Chief Rob Gaylor told the Board that daily responses rose from about 13 to more than 16 per day this month; the department is seeing higher overlapping calls and expects additional stations would be required to meet national response-time standards, even after opening Stations 4 and 5.
Westfield Fire Department Chief Rob Gaylor reported to the Board of Public Works and Safety that call volume and overlapping incidents have increased and that the department remains short of national standards even with planned station openings.
"May and 2025 so far have been a busy year for the fire department," Chief Rob Gaylor said. He corrected a figure in the packet, noting April was being compared incorrectly; the department responded to 418 calls in 2024 and 488 calls in May 2025, he said. "We're over 16 responses per day" in the current month, up from just over 13 per day the prior month.
Gaylor said the department is reviewing data and pursuing grant funding to address rising demand. He described a shift in how some responses are categorized: community paramedicine and public-service work are being captured differently from emergent EMS runs, which affects trend reporting. He also described that care-facility responses remain a sizable portion of medical runs: "In 2023, we had 81 responses in the month of May to care facilities. In 2024, we had 54. And in 2025, we had 57."
Chief Gaylor told the board that a geographic information study suggested the department would need eight stations by 2030 to meet desired coverage. "Even with the addition of Station 4 and Station 5, we're still going to be behind the national standard," he said, noting overlapping calls are a concern: "In 2024 we had almost 1,700 overlapping calls ... if we stay the current model ... we could see a 50% overlapping calls."
The chief said the department is preparing a presentation to the City Council on station needs and data-driven impacts, but noted fiscal constraints including state-level tax changes affect the city's ability to add recurring operating capacity. He said recruit class graduation and other staffing developments will be discussed with council in July.
Board members asked about geographic concentration and response time impacts; the chief said higher population density and infill without nearby stations increases travel time and that land availability and cost can constrain station siting.
No formal board action was taken; the item was informational and staff said they will follow up with council presentations and grant-seeking efforts.
