The Ellis County Fire Department responded to 320 calls for service in 2018, a slight decrease from the year before but they still spent more than 6,600 hours on emergency incidents in and around the county.
Director of Fire and Emergency Management Darin Myers presented the commission with the departments 2018 annual report Monday. The response times within the county continue to improve, according to Myers. He said in 2018 the average on-scene time within Ellis County was 9 minutes, 34 seconds. Recently, the number of volunteer emergency personnel has been trending downward, according to Myers.
“Luckily, over the last four years, we’ve steadily increased,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we ever have enough, just because of the time of day the incident happens. Usually between 8 a.m. and 5p.m. is when the firefighters are working their primary jobs.”
There are currently 83 paid-per-call firefighters in six companies after two recent retirements.
(Read more: Hays Post)