Placentia fire chief outlines rising call volumes, equipment costs and staffing lessons in biennial report

The Placentia City Council on Oct. 21 heard a detailed biennial report from the city’s Fire & Life Safety Department covering July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025, during which the department logged 10,645 calls for service and reported both operational gains and growing budget pressures.

Fire Chief Dobyn told the council the department responded to roughly 2,924 calls requiring engine or truck response and 7,721 emergency medical service calls over the two-year period, with average response times of 6 minutes, 56 seconds for fire-related calls and 4 minutes, 54 seconds for EMS calls. "We have a fine group of firefighters that are here to serve their community," Dobyn said, praising staff professionalism and mutual-aid deployments.

City analysts and department leaders highlighted several trends: overall call volume rose about 8% since the prior report; falls produced a 15% increase in EMS calls; mutual-aid requests into neighboring jurisdictions jumped sharply; and the city has begun to both provide and receive mutual aid more frequently. Chief Dobyn said mutual-aid deployments produced reimbursable revenue and training…