North County Fire sees drop in emergency activity

During a regular board meeting on Tuesday, October 27, North County Fire Protection District (NCFPD) directors were informed that the district saw a decrease of 3.98 percent in emergency activities, a 1.44-percent decrease of medical-related incidents and a decrease of 21.12 percent in fire-related incidences for the first fiscal quarter, July through September.

According to the board meeting agenda, the district “responded to 989 requests for service, as compared to 1,030 during last fiscal year’s first quarter, resulting in a nominal decrease of 41 incidents.” There was also an increase of 3.74 percent in other related cases.

North County Fire Chief Bill Metcalf said a decrease of less than five percent is within typical variations that occur between quarters.

The information provided to the board of directors also allowed them to monitor operational statistics while identifying service trends that may impact the capabilities and effectiveness of the district’s emergency response system.

The statistical data is also routinely forwarded to the district’s management team for evaluation in order to see if any modifications need to be made to the emergency delivery system.

Board members were informed that within the last quarter, NCFPD processed and effectively mitigated 100 percent of the emergency requests for service.

“Simply put, people will have the sense that this fire season hasn’t been as bad as it has been the past couple of years,” said Metcalf. He added that the slight change will not have an impact upon the district because the aggregate incident totals continue to remain relatively stable.

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