The Salem Fire Protection District handled nearly 23-percent more calls in 2022 than the prior year.
The Fire Chief’s End of Year report indicates there were 293 fire and rescue alarms during 2022, up 54 calls from the prior year.
There were 22 structure fire calls, which is above average for the past five years. In addition, the fire district answered alarms for six trash fires, three cooking fires, and three electrical fires that were contained to the electric service. The department also responded to 15 vehicle fires and handled 39 natural cover or grass fires.
Salem Firemen also provided mutual or automatic aid 31 times to various neighboring fire departments and districts. Highway rescues accounted for 54 calls which is up considerably over the last five years. Highway rescues, commonly referred to as vehicle extrications and motor vehicle accident assists.
Total fire loss for the year is placed at $203,585. Those losses are derived from the 18 different reported categories involving fire. The total property saved amounted to $3,591,050, which equates to a 94-percent save rate. There was one civilian fire death during 2022 during a house fire on North Broadway.
During 2022, Salem Fire Protection District firefighters participated in 3,572 certified training hours. The time is spent in both classroom and hands on training to create and maintain the skill set necessary to perform the fire/rescue tasks at the highest level. That is an average of 94 hours per man with many of the firefighters significantly exceeding that number.
The Salem Fire Protection District territory encompasses approximately 124 square miles, with four career engineer/firefighters who man the station 24 hours a day-seven days a week. They are responsible for responding the first due apparatus to all calls. Additionally, firefighters from the roster of ‘paid on call’ firefighters respond directly to the incident scene from their homes, places of employment or other activities saving precious response time. As the title suggests, ‘paid on call’ firefighters receive an hourly wage engaged in fire district calls with the that pay assisting in off-setting their personal expenses incurred from being members of the department.
