BROOKINGS For calendar year 2023, the Brookings Fire Department set a record for service calls: 290.
That far exceeds our 10-year average of 240, noted Fire Chief Pete Bolzer, a veteran of 25 years with the department, 22 as deputy chief and the past three years at the helm. In addition to the city of Brookings, his department covers 207 square miles of rural area, most of it in Brookings County but with a bit in Moody County.
For detailed stats, check out the BFDs Facebook post, which shows and details incidents and responses in 2023, to include: Fire (of all sorts), 54 or 18.62%; excessive heat or scorch burns, with no fire, 2 or 0.69%; rescue and emergency medical service, 35 or 12.07%; hazardous condition, but no fire, 45 or 15.52%; (miscellaneous) service calls, 7 or 2.41%; good intent call, 95 or 32.76%; and false alarm/false call, 52 or 17.93%.
We do have some weather anomalies in 2022 and 2023 that were large contributor to the number of calls, the chief explained, referencing the 290 calls for service. Because of the weather and the road conditions, we had more car crashes. He also noted the derecho in 2022 as a weather anomaly.
Bolzer noted further that the winter weather of 2023 played a key role for the department: It was just a long winter for our guys. They were continually responding, in bad weather, in bad road conditions. Because of the low temperatures, we did have some of the apparatus that had some damage from freezing we had to repair.
The chief admitted that such temperatures which could come again this weekend are tough on the gear and tough on the guys: Somethings going to break at that temperature (40 below wind chill). It always does. And we have to watch our firefighters. If theyre working hard, we have to rotate that so that they have a chance to get out of the weather and warm up.
In the overall scope of what the BFD does, actually fighting fires is just one small of what the department does.
When you look at our report, thats a lot of different calls that we deal with. You look at the fires, last year (2023) it was 54. Actually, thats way down, the chief noted. In 2021, we responded to 60 fires. Thats a very small part of our calls.
When you look at the wide range of everything that we respond to, thats why we train so much. Our firefighters have to deal with all that stuff: vehicle extrication; emergency medical services at accidents; hazardous materials calls. We train on all of those topics, so everybody can be proficient and remain proficient at it.
Good Intent Call is a category that continues to rise, Bolzer admitted. Were dispatched to a vehicle accident. Law enforcement may call and tell the BFD, Youre not needed; turn around and go home. Dispatched and canceled en route.
As to false alarms or false calls, the chief noted that these were by and large done with good intentions and not with any malicious intent.
False alarms a challenge
Bolzer sees his firefighters so well trained that theyre up to any challenge. However, as being in charge, he sees his biggest challenge being false alarms. We have so many false alarms that over a period of time, your firefighters will just go, OK, its false alarm, Im just not going to show up. And then you have a very limited number showing up and then when you get there, its the real thing. So its really challenging for the person in charge to keep everybody interested enough to respond to a false alarm.
The BFD has four paid positions: chief, deputy chief, fire inspector, and office/maintenance manager. Add to that an allowance for 45 volunteers, with a present roster of 43.
Were seeing the same problem that other departments are seeing nationwide, Bolzer explained. Its very difficult to get volunteer firefighters in todays world because of the time commitment. And with the increase in calls, I think thats just going to put more and more stress on the volunteers.
However, he did note that the present roster of 45 volunteers is adequate: Where were sitting, we can handle pretty much anything. With our equipment and the quality of training that our volunteers have, 14 to 15 firefighters can handle probably 90% of our calls.
Bolzer explained that one problem with a volunteer fire service (is that) you never know whos going to show up. You have no clue whats going on in their private lives and where theyre at, how their job is affecting them. typically, we plan on 50% of our firefighters showing up. Thats what we rely on.
The membership requirements that the BFD volunteers must meet include: attendance at 50% of the meetings; 50% of the service calls; and completion of a certain number of hours of training.
The departs rolling stock includes: Five engines, two aerial units, two brush trucks, one heavy rescue truck, and two water tenders.
The chief is literally on-call 24/7 and he, or in his absence Deputy Fire Chief Dan Kriese, goes to the scene of every service call. Either man then quickly determines what response is needed, such as the number of firefighters and their skills. A response can then be reinforced or down-sized as the incident requires.
Finally, it should be noted that in 2023 there was one service call response that demonstrated what fire departments have been noted for and what has become over the years the stuff of legend, albeit on a small scale: Animal rescue.
We had to get a cat out of a tree, Bolzer said, with a grin. We thought he was injured. Typically, we dont like to get cats out of trees; they attack the firefighters. We have found out from previous instances that cats can bite through firefighters gloves. Then you have the whole rabies stuff you have to worry about.
Contact John Kubal at [email protected].
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