KEYSER — The Keyser Volunteer Fire Department responded to 365 calls in 2009, the one-a-day average including 22 structure fires, 61 automobile accidents and 16 brush or woods fires.
Fire Department Chief Chris Paitsel presented the report to the Keyser City Council at last week’s Council meeting, and also updated city officials on the status of the new fire station being built on West Piedmont Street to replace the downtown station that will be razed to make way for the new Memorial Bridge.
According to Paitsel, the fire calls in 2009 resulted in $1.1 million in property loss, plus an additional $442,000 in loss to building contents. Much of the total in the latter category was attributed to the July 4 arson fire that destroyed the Comcast building on Main Street, which housed cable, wiring and electronics.
Paitsal said an average of 11 volunteers responded to the calls, with the average response time 6.37 minutes. “That’s exceptional for a volunteer organization,” the chief said.
Paitsal’s 14-page report provided a detailed overview of the fire department's activities, breaking down individual calls in numerous categories, including rescue calls, service calls, false alarms, weather events and hazardous materials incidents.
Of the calls the fire department responded to, 101 were inside the city and 91 were outside the city limits, but in the department’s first-due area. Other calls were for mutual aid or other incidents.
Three firefighters were injured over the course of the year.
“We had a couple small injures, but everybody came home,” the chief said.
Thursday was the busiest day of the week for firefighters, accounting for 73 calls, or 20 percent of 2009’s total. Calls that day were most intense from 1 to 7 p.m. “That’s been pretty consistent over the years,” the chief said of Thursday's prominence.
False alarms and call cancellations also figure prominently among the calls. Keyser responded to 39 unintentional smoke-detector activations or alarm malfunctions, and volunteers were cancelled en-route to a call 79 times.
With construction of Memorial Bridge set to begin this spring, Paitsel updated Council members on the new fire station, to be built on West Piedmont Street, where the old stone wall marks the 2-acre site of the former B&O Railroad reservoir. Two nearby houses are being demolished for construction of the station, which will be a one-story, “L” shaped design with five garage bays for apparatus, and one for vehicle maintenance. The station, to include kitchen and bunk facilities, will feature a 40-foot driveway apron opening onto West Piedmont.
Construction of the $3 million brick and block facility is expected to begin in April.
“What's going to happen to the fire company is a dream come true,” the chief said.
Fire Department officials are slated to meet today with the project architect to go over the building design. The station is being built according to the latest state specifications for such a facility.
“This is what the code says you have to have for a fire station,” Paitsel said. “It's very fortunate we landed in it at this time.”
Mayor William “Sonny” Rhodes thanked Paitsel for the report, and conveyed his appreciation to every member of the fire department. “There are no people more dedicated in the community of Keyser than the fire department volunteers,” he said.
|
|
|
KEYSER — The Keyser Volunteer Fire Department responded to 365 calls in 2009, the one-a-day average including 22 structure fires, 61 automobile accidents and 16 brush or woods fires.
Fire Department Chief Chris Paitsel presented the report to the Keyser City Council at last week’s Council meeting, and also updated city officials on the status of the new fire station being built on West Piedmont Street to replace the downtown station that will be razed to make way for the new Memorial Bridge.
According to Paitsel, the fire calls in 2009 resulted in $1.1 million in property loss, plus an additional $442,000 in loss to building contents. Much of the total in the latter category was attributed to the July 4 arson fire that destroyed the Comcast building on Main Street, which housed cable, wiring and electronics.
Paitsal said an average of 11 volunteers responded to the calls, with the average response time 6.37 minutes. “That’s exceptional for a volunteer organization,” the chief said.
Paitsal’s 14-page report provided a detailed overview of the fire department's activities, breaking down individual calls in numerous categories, including rescue calls, service calls, false alarms, weather events and hazardous materials incidents.
Of the calls the fire department responded to, 101 were inside the city and 91 were outside the city limits, but in the department’s first-due area. Other calls were for mutual aid or other incidents.
Three firefighters were injured over the course of the year.
“We had a couple small injures, but everybody came home,” the chief said.
Thursday was the busiest day of the week for firefighters, accounting for 73 calls, or 20 percent of 2009’s total. Calls that day were most intense from 1 to 7 p.m. “That’s been pretty consistent over the years,” the chief said of Thursday's prominence.
False alarms and call cancellations also figure prominently among the calls. Keyser responded to 39 unintentional smoke-detector activations or alarm malfunctions, and volunteers were cancelled en-route to a call 79 times.
With construction of Memorial Bridge set to begin this spring, Paitsel updated Council members on the new fire station, to be built on West Piedmont Street, where the old stone wall marks the 2-acre site of the former B&O Railroad reservoir. Two nearby houses are being demolished for construction of the station, which will be a one-story, “L” shaped design with five garage bays for apparatus, and one for vehicle maintenance. The station, to include kitchen and bunk facilities, will feature a 40-foot driveway apron opening onto West Piedmont.
Construction of the $3 million brick and block facility is expected to begin in April.
“What's going to happen to the fire company is a dream come true,” the chief said.
Fire Department officials are slated to meet today with the project architect to go over the building design. The station is being built according to the latest state specifications for such a facility.
“This is what the code says you have to have for a fire station,” Paitsel said. “It's very fortunate we landed in it at this time.”
Mayor William “Sonny” Rhodes thanked Paitsel for the report, and conveyed his appreciation to every member of the fire department. “There are no people more dedicated in the community of Keyser than the fire department volunteers,” he said.
