By Jason E. Silvers
Fort Scott Tribune – January 8, 2014
Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou conveyed the good and bad of a busy 2013 for the Fort Scott Fire Department.
Ballou appeared before the Fort Scott City Commission during its regular meeting Tuesday to provide a year-in-review report – including statistics and comparisons – for the department for 2013.
“It was a busy year, but yet fires were down. That’s significant for us,” Ballou said. “It was probably the busiest year as far as emergency runs for us. We helped a lot of citizens out this year. A lot. But that’s what we’re there for.”
Ballou said the department made a total of 1,355 emergency incident runs in 2013, an increase of 128 runs from 2012. A big percentage of those – about 79 percent- are medical runs, which include EMS assists, ambulance runs made under the city’s contract with Mercy Hospital, and car accidents.
There was a significant decrease in nearly all types of fires the department handles in 2013, especially structure fires, Ballou said.
The department averages about 20-25 structure fires per year, which includes fires in houses and businesses. In 2013, the department worked only 14 structure fires, a decrease of about six fires from 2012, he said.
“Every category of fire we have was down this year from last year,” Ballou said. “Car fires were up slightly.”
The department made 216 ambulance runs in 2013, which can sometimes mean added revenue for the city. In 2013, it meant an extra $28,000 in revenue, an increase from 2012.
“We contracted with Mercy I believe in 2006,” Ballou said. “They pay us a contract amount and after so many runs in a month, I think it’s six runs, we make extra revenue for the extra runs we make.”
The FSFD runs what Ballou called a “second out” ambulance for Mercy when Mercy makes ambulance runs. He said the entities work well together and “it’s a really good system.”
During his report, Ballou also informed the commission about the recent Girl Scouts Cookie Crunch-Off, which took place Jan. 3 and involved representatives of the FSFD, Fort Scott Police Department and dispatch center munching cookies in a friendly competition with other local groups to help kick off the start of the Girl Scouts’ annual cookie sales campaign.
Ballou said the annual nationwide event takes place in January each year and involves four-person teams, whose members have to eat at least one type of cookie offered by the Girl Scouts. This is the second year teams from Fort Scott have participated.
“We’re trying to get more teams and make it bigger,” he said.
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