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Belvidere fire chief: 304 responses in 30 days, reporting system moves to NEARIS and ambulance program shows $463,433 net cost
Summary
Fire Chief Jay Schoettle told the Committee of the Whole the department responded to 304 incidents in the past 30 days, the federal reporting system switched from NFIRS to NEARIS (real-time reporting), and ambulance division revenue/expenditures were $947,856 and $1,411,289 respectively, yielding a net cost of $463,433.
Fire Chief Jay Schoettle reported to the committee that the Belvidere Fire Department responded to 304 incidents in the past 30 days and that the federal incident-reporting system used by fire agencies has transitioned from NFIRS to NEARIS.
"In the past 30 days, the fire department has responded to 304 calls," Schoettle said, and explained that NEARIS (the National Emergency Incident Reporting System) provides near-real-time data and has changed some incident-type classifications compared with the older NFIRS format.
Schoettle provided incident details: seven fires (four structure fires and one room-and-contents fire), 21 hazardous situations (including two downed power lines, three electrical hazards, nine gas leaks and one carbon-monoxide release), and 193 medical calls. He said there were 162 EMS transports to local hospitals during the period and that total patient transports since ambulances began operations numbered 5,437.
On ambulance finances, Schoettle reported revenue of $947,856 and expenditures of $1,411,289, producing a net cost to the city of $463,433 for the ambulance division. He highlighted an operational trend that lifts and fall-related calls were a sizable share of activity: 28 lift assists and 26 falls (about 8.6% of calls), likely elevated because of recent snow and ice.
Schoettle also said the department has two officers on leave, five officers at various stages of the field training officer program, three new officers sworn in Dec. 23 (Admonson, Sampson and Draup) who are attending basic academy, and that Monica Hernandez has been hired as an administrative assistant in investigations.
Finally, Schoettle said the department submitted a request for proposals to refinish Station 2's concrete floor (grind and re-epoxy) as the next stage of that station's completion.
The committee did not take any formal action on the report; it was received for information and staff answered members' questions about reporting changes and finances.
