Jacksonville fire chief Matt Summers sees consistencies in several categories in the year end fire numbers.
Summers released the annual report to the Jacksonville city council Monday night. He took over as fire chief this past year.
Summers says the number of calls has been fairly consistent over the past several years.
It is close to 3-thousand calls a year. These include fire, EMS calls, and rescue calls. He has seen an increasing trend toward rescue calls.
Summers says the role of the fireman has changed over the years.
He’s especially proud of medical training level in the department.
Summers says he’s proud of the level of paramedic training firemen have done over the past year. He says the majority of the department is now paramedic trained.
Summers says the dollars lost to fires this past year was down, falling to $300-thousand. He attributes to dilapidated structures being taken down and stepped up enforcement from the inspections department.
He’s looking forward to getting a new aerial truck for the fire department. It’s been several years in the planning stage, allowing the city to save toward the purchase of the nearly $2-million unit.