Mayfield Heights Fire Had Busiest Year In City History

MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, OH — The Mayfield Heights Fire Department had a busy 2018. The city's firefighters responded to 3,996 incident over the course of the year, by far the most in Mayfield Heights history.

The fire department saw an increase of 7.6 percent in call volume between 2017 and 2018. The majority of the calls, 3,275, were rescue and emergency medical service incidents. There were 50 fires in the city during the year.

Mayfield Heights saw a high-profile fire near the end of the year when Rebecca Pletnewski's house caught fire, killing Pletnewski's 8-year-old daughter Olivia Schneider. Pletnewski was found killed inside the home. The accused fire starter, Dominique Swopes, had a pretrial hearing in December 2018 and his bond was set at $5 million.

The fire department also responded to:

• Overpressure rupture, explosion, overheat - no fire: 27
• Hazardous Conditions; 89
• Service Call: 104
• Good Intent Call: 124
• False alarm & false call: 322
• Severe weather: 1
• Special Incident type: 4

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"I would like to thank the members of the MHFD for their dedication and professionalism they display each and every day to the residents of our community," wrote Mayfield Heights Fire Chief Bruce Elliott on Facebook. "I would also like to thank the residents of Mayfield Heights for their continued support of our Safety Forces."

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