FRESNO (KMJ) — Figures from Fresno Fire show fewer calls for service on July 4th 2018 compared to the same day in 2017, but the overall number remained above average.
“We are fortunate to be able to say we had a decrease in the number of calls that we responded to over last year, however there still was an increase from our day-to-day response of 375%,” detailed Deputy Chief Ted Semonious.
“So that’s a pretty significant amount of calls that we responded to yesterday [Wednesday].”
“Yesterday alone we responded to 154 calls for service for the Fire Department and our daily average is 120.”
Fresno Fire Department responded to 49 incidents on Independence Day; four of them being structure fires.
“As far as reporting goes, this year we used some different criteria for sorting our calls to ensure we weren’t responding to calls we couldn’t make a difference on.”
Deputy Chief Semonious said that included requiring the person making the report to stay on scene to provide a statement.
“If there was no responsible party ready to stand by and make a statement for us then we wouldn’t have someone go and respond to the report of illegal fireworks because there were plenty of reports we couldn’t respond to because of the sheer volume.”
.@FresnoFire says #4thJuly2018 was better than last year. There were 154 calls for service (average is 120), with more staff on duty to deal with uptick. More on @KMJNOW. pic.twitter.com/WTz9iqIjTk
— Dom McAndrew (@DomMcAndrew) July 5, 2018
The City of Fresno announced on Monday that its FresGo app could be used to report illegal fireworks. Fresno Fire Department revealed that, of the total 1120 reports filed since the service opened this week, 875 of them were submitted on July 4th. That was coupled with assistance from Fresno Police, which provided 19 officers to patrol the streets alongside fire investigators.
“Part of the reason we had a downtown in call volume yesterday [Wednesday] evening was due to the enforcement. The amount of police officers on the streets trying to enforce the code I believe helped us reduce the amount of calls for service.
“We still had a significant number of people reporting illegal activity…but I think the presence alone helped to keep the call volume down.”
During the July 4th patrol, Fresno Police said that officers wrote 27 citations for the possession and use of illegal fireworks, responded to 75 calls for service, confiscated 163 illegal fireworks and issued 18 warnings.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
