Dayton Fire Department sees busiest year on record

DAYTON — A local fire department said last year was their busiest year ever — and the calls aren’t letting up.

As reported on News Center 7 at 11, the Dayton Fire Department said in the last 10 years the city has seen fire and EMS calls jump more than 30 percent.

More than 300 firefighters, medics and EMTs make up the department.

Assistant Fire Chief Brad French said that is enough to handle the influx of emergency calls they get.

The Dayton Fire Department said it went to more than 42,000 scenes last year.

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“I don’t know that there’s one specific cause, it’s an increase across categories, just a higher demand for service across the city,” he said.

For 2024 the city approved adding two extra staff members to its daily roster.

Every day there is a minimum of 65 people ready to respond to fire and EMS calls.

“The way the staffing model works out, it allows us the opportunity to have additional medic units during the day,” French said.

Despite more calls, French wants people to know it won’t stop them from helping people.

The department looks at how many calls it gets year to year.

Then that decides how it will handle daily operations.

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