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West Chester fire department reports 12% rise in responses; false alarms surge
Summary
Assistant Fire Chief Justin McClure told borough council the department responded to 1,786 calls in 2024, a 12% increase from 2023, and reported a large rise in false alarms and $2 million in property loss with roughly $52 million in property "in jeopardy."
Assistant Fire Chief Justin McClure told West Chester Borough Council that the fire department responded to 1,786 calls in 2024, a 12% increase from 2023, and that volunteers logged more than 15,000 hours of training.
The increase appears broad-based rather than tied to a single cause. "The increase in call volume is up across the board across all our responses — it's not necessarily specific to one specific call type or one address," McClure said. He also said the department recorded about $2,000,000 in property loss and "almost $52,000,000 in jeopardy" for incidents categorized as fire loss in 2024.
Why it matters: higher call volume strains volunteer staffing and borough finances. McClure…
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