CAL FIRE says Lake Elsinore handled 1,774 incidents in Q2; average response time improves to 4.4 minutes

CAL FIRE presented its second-quarter report for April through June 2025 to the Lake Elsinore City Council, reporting 1,774 total incidents citywide, with medical aid calls making up the majority.

Chief Reid told the council the quarter included 1,365 medical-aid calls, 180 traffic collisions, 26 vegetation fires and seven residential-structure fires. The department's average response time improved to 4.4 minutes for the quarter; the prior quarterly reports showed 4.6 and 4.9 minutes, Reid said.

Reid noted the department works closely with neighboring agencies through automatic and mutual aid. He said Lake Elsinore assisted the city of Canyon Lake 19 times while Canyon Lake assisted Lake Elsinore 15 times. For other nearby jurisdictions, Lake Elsinore gave aid to Menifee (4), Wildomar (36) and the county (219); assistance received included Menifee (16), Wildomar (54) and the county (70). Reid said Station 97 is deliberately designed to run calls into the county and that staffing agreements reflect that arrangement.

The department reported 99 plan reviews with an average turnaround of 10 days and 107 fire inspections with a two-day average turnaround, matching staff goals. Chief Reid also noted the city's new Quint 97 ladder apparatus will be taken into service this weekend following a recent climb-and-familiarization demonstration with the mayor.

Council members thanked the department for meeting turnaround goals and for improvements in response time. Mayor Dennis Tisdale and others praised the cooperative mutual-aid arrangements and city investment in equipment.

"We are doing very well on that," Reid said, referencing response-time performance and NFPA standards.

He invited council questions and credited city management and the community for supporting modern apparatus and staffing.