Des Moines Fire Department Sees Record Calls In 2017

DES MOINES, IA — Even before racing to two three-alarm fires on Dec. 18, the Des Moines Fire Department had reached a record number of calls for 2017. In 2016 the department's 10 fire stations broke the 24,000 mark for 911 calls when staffers answered 24,171 calls. That number was exceeded on Dec. 14 and the department went on to eclipse the milestone 25,000 mark for the year.

By New Year's Eve, the department had answered approximately 25,400 calls in the capital city.

As the community grows, particularly with the addition of housing on the northeast and southern edges of Des Moines, the department will be pressed to answer more calls, department spokesman Brian O'Keefe told Patch recently. To prepare for that, the city entered into a partnership with neighboring Altoona. In 2018, the communities begin sharing coverage in an area in northeast Des Moines and the western edge of Altoona. The two cities also are exploring a joint fire station in the area.

"With 15 other fire departments in Polk County, that's new for us to actually staff and respond outside our borders, except during special occasions like hazmat or special operations," O'Keefe told Patch. "It's something new we're going to try."

O'Keefe said the department is well staffed to handle the growing number of calls in an expanding city with about 300 personnel in the fire department, from sworn firefighters to maintenance, information technology and other support personnel. He said the department doesn't expect many retirements in the coming year, and will add personnel when two classes of recruits that are currently in training complete their work.

"We continue to monitor the retirement of our personnel, but we have programs to try to budget and staff and train so there's not a large gap or lapses," O'Keefe said.

The trainees include a senior paramedic class through Des Moines Area Community College and a junior firefighting class being trained internally. Students in the two-year paramedic program currently are involved in ride-alongs with ambulance and emergency personnel; the firefighter candidates are starting tactical work at fire scenes and got valuable on-site experience last month at the Plaza Lanes fire in north Des Moines, O'Keefe said.

"They get to see the sights and sounds, how it's run," O'Keefe said. "It's good experience for them."

He said the trainees include 15 in the junior class and 18 in the senior class and although it's typical for one or two to drop out along the way, neither class has lost a candidate.

O'Keefe said that now that the department is starting a new year of fire calls, personnel will review all the 2017 numbers and types of calls and complete a breakdown of the responses, from types of incidents to types of fire responded to — such as a structure or a vehicle fire — and calls that require special operations such as extrications, Hazmat, or water rescues.

"We're always looking at how the last year went and how we need to focus our personnel," he said.

While the majority of calls the department handles are for EMS, such as medical issues, O'Keefe said the number of shootings and opioid overdoses "have been significant in 2017."

"With each type of call we look at how we respond — whether its tactics, equipment, protocol or how we handle the type of overdose, because it's a safety hazard."

The final analysis of 2017 calls won't be complete until spring, O'Keefe said.

Patch file photo, Melissa Myers