Maddie Pfeifer
Corvallis Gazette-Times, Ore.
(TNS)

Mar. 14—The Albany Fire Department has released its 2022 report, highlighting the agency’s training methods, call data and grant funding. Among the revelations: 469 of the calls were false alarms and 89% were requests for medical assistance.

Training

In 2022, Albany firefighters logged 10,858 training hours. Specific types of training included “traffic incident management system” training which teaches them how to stay safe when responding to and managing traffic incidents. The Oregon Department of Transportation taught this course.

The agency also participated in a fire investigation course with the Office of the State Fire Marshal. During this training, investigators learned how to look into arson, electrical fires and more.

Albany firefighters utilized a “burn to learn” method of training as well. This happens when someone donates a structure to the department so firefighters can practice extinguishing a staged, controlled fire.

Each year, the department also has a wildland fire refresher training to prepare crews for wildfire season. Other trainings AFD participated in include ventilation, active threat and rescue technician training.

Call numbers

The 2022 report includes some data regarding the types of calls Albany Fire Department responded to.

There were 11,260 calls for service, with 89% of the calls being medical. The agency received 294 calls for fires, 41 calls for hazmat, four explosions and 469 false alarms.

According to the report, AFD responded to 507 motor vehicle collisions.

December in particular had a historically high call load with 1,158 emergency calls and 609 ambulance transports. The Dec. 23 ice storm in itself resulted in 85 calls for the day, which doubled the previous daily record.

Notable highlights

Another major point from the 2022 report included the opening of Station 15 in Millersburg. That city provided the funding, while AFD helped with the floor plan and amenities and provides the staffing for the station.

The agency also received multiple grants last year. The department received a $35,000 grant to increase staffing during wildfire season as well as $642,727 from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant for a new fire engine and $1.3 million from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant to go toward the hiring of three new firefighters for three years.

—

—

Maddie Pfeifer covers public safety for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6091 or Madison.Pfeifer@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @maddiepfeifer_

___

(c)2023 Corvallis Gazette-Times, Ore.

Visit Corvallis Gazette-Times, Ore. at www.gazettetimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A raging blaze tore through a cluster of businesses in downtown Lawrence early Friday morning, destroying a liquor store and a bakery. Crews responding to a report of a fire in the area of Essex and Newbury streets found flames shooting from a building that houses multiple businesses and thick smoke consuming the neighborhood.
- PUB DATE: 3/17/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFXT-TV FOX 25 Boston

In the next step in its fight to combat fire fighter cancer, the International Association of Fire Fighters filed suit March 16 against the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for its role in imposing a testing standard that effectively requires the use of PFAS in fire fighter protective gear.
- PUB DATE: 3/17/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFF.org

VIDEO: Typically, to be hired at Lubbock Fire Rescue, you had to be both firefighter and EMT certified. Now applicants don’t have to be certified in either to apply. LFR Captain Phillip Grandon says the traditional model worked for a while but times are changing. LFR used to receive up to 400 applications in a given hiring season but lately, it has been getting under 100.
- PUB DATE: 3/17/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCBD-TV NBC 11 Lubbock

Before he was a “Joker,” Brian “Q” Quinn was an FDNY firefighter. The internationally known comedian, 47, spent nearly a decade at Ladder Co. 86 on Richmond Avenue in Graniteville. It’s a chapter the “Impractical Jokers” star looks back on fondly, both for the work he did keeping Staten Islanders safe and for the local causes he joined that still remain important to him.
- PUB DATE: 3/17/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SILive.com