Small Rise In Calls For Service

Hernando County residents continue to increase their demands for emergency workers.

Calls for service to city and county first responders went up as much as 20 percent during the year, though the spike is considerably less than 2006's.

Administrators rely on the numbers to gauge the county's growth and provide a big picture of the community's needs as they plan for the upcoming year.

"It justifies what we do," said Frank DeFrancesco, assistant chief of Hernando County Fire Rescue.

As with last year, preliminary figures show the Brooksville Police Department at the top of the pile with 3,315 more calls for service. The department recorded a 39 percent increase from 2005-06. The neighboring fire department on Veterans Avenue kept on its steady course of an annual 10 percent increase with 2,488 calls as of Friday.

The county fire service is on track to record 14,000 calls for service in 2007, an increase of 7 percent more than last year.

That's more in line with the single-digit increases of the past five years, a pattern that was broken by a 12 percent increase from 2005-06.

These numbers only reflect dispatched calls, not the final disposition of the case. For example, the county district responded to 272 fire alarms through November.

But not all of those fire alarms were emergencies. Some were set off by power surges or burned popcorn in the microwave. Likewise, medical calls could wind up as a refusal for treatment.

The general image of a firefighter's job is, well, fighting fire. There were 115 house fires in the county for the first 11 months of the year and 37 commercial fires.

The firefighter's other traditional role of rescuing cats from trees and children locked in cars is considered a public assistance and took up 382 calls.

But it's medical calls that actually account for the bulk of the county's business at 8,187. Those type of emergencies typically peak around this time of year as older folks migrate from up north.

A particularly pertinent statistic for Florida as it slides into its second year of drought is the number of reported brush fires. Equally important is the number of unauthorized burns because those frequently lead to the brush fires, according to DeFrancesco.

Those figures show there were 170 illegal burns from March through July, despite a burn ban in effect. That matches exactly the number of brush fires.

The county's numbers also chart the more uncommon incidents. For instance, there were only five recorded bomb threats and no building collapses or explosions.

The sheriff's office is still tallying its final numbers. Third quarter results show 78,245 calls for service in 2007. Last year's total was 106,879.

So far, Spring Hill Fire Rescue claims the smallest increase. Its totals are compiled within the framework of the fiscal year, which begins in September.

Records show a 4 percent increase from 10,660 to 11,054. Chief J.J. Morrison said there were no burgeoning trends that the department was keeping tabs on, though fire calls were picking up.

"It stresses the resources a little bit," he said. But "we keep an eye on it."