Brookfield Fire Department was the fifth busiest in Trumbull County in 2017, answering 1,999 calls, the department said, using numbers provided by Trumbull County 911.
“We do run a lot of calls, especially for a town our size,” said Interim Fire Chief Dave Coffy.
Brookfield’s number of calls, which were up 144 from 2016, was eclipsed by: Howland, 3,527 calls; Liberty, 2,425; Niles, 2,411; and Champion, 2,322.
Of Brookfield’s calls, 1,506 were for medical issues – and that did not include motor vehicle accidents, which numbered 93 on their own.
The high number of crashes illustrates the importance of having good rescue tools, Coffy said. The department recently bought new cutting and spreading tools, stabilizers and accessories.
“We use our rescue tools a lot,” Coffy said.
The department, which also serves Hartford and Yankee Lake, answered 143 fire calls, of which 60 were structure fires.
“For a while, it seemed like we were getting hit hard,” Coffy said of structure fires. “It’s an older community – you’re going to have that.”
The department also responded to 171 hazardous condition calls, which includes storm damage and carbon monoxide checks.
One big storm can keep the department hopping, said firefighter/paramedic Jeremy Baker.
“One day, I had 42 calls in a single day, and 30 of them were for trees down,” he said.
The department averages 5.5 calls a day.
The department regularly responds to mutual aid requests, helping neighboring communities, particularly with structure fires. Brookfield is one of few full-time fire departments in Trumbull County and has people ready to roll.
“It’s hard to get volunteers,” Baker said. “People have to work two and three jobs. It’s hard to get people to do it for free.”
The department does not seem to be slowing down. Averaging 167 calls a month in 2017, it ended the year with 189 in December and had 169 in January and 131 in February.
