Staff photo / Allie Vugrincic Liberty Township firefighters Lt. Abbie Buday of Poland, formerly of Warren, behind, and firefighter / paramedic Kaitlyn Mason of Youngstown put on their gear Friday afternoon at the Liberty Fire Station on Logan Way.

It was another busy year for fire departments in Trumbull County, who together reported responding to well over 34,000 calls in 2022.

In Liberty Township, the fire department finished the year with 3,595 calls — 439 more than it ran in 2021. Chief Doug Theobald said the increase likely has to do with the area’s aging population and a change in attitude to where people are inclined to call for emergency medical services.

“We’ve been trying to staff more people,” Theobald said, adding that he tries to keep five or six people on station at a time.

The department averages about 10 calls per day, or upwards of 300 calls per month. Theobald said approximately 13 percent of the calls are “multiple hits” where two or even three calls happen in quick succession.

The Eagle Joint Fire District, which serves the city of Hubbard and Hubbard Township, more than doubled its previous record in 2022 by running a total of 2,037 calls last year. Braceville also set a record for itself with 505 calls, most of which were emergency and medical services.

The Howland Fire Department, which has historically been the busiest fire department in Trumbull County, responded to 3,847 calls in 2022, according to Assistant Chief Ray Pace. That’s down from 2021’s record high of 4,077 calls, but up from 3,707 calls in 2020 and still more than any other station in the county handled last year.

Pace said Howland’s high call volume has to do with its facilities, including doctors’ offices and nursing homes, and the heavy traffic along state Routes 46 and 82 that comes with ample vehicle crashes. He said while the township’s “resting” population is approximately 19,000, there is a significant influx of people during the day.

Like most stations that operate emergency medical services, the bulk of Howland’s calls are for medical emergencies and ambulance rides.

To keep up with the calls, the department has three fire stations, 28 full-time firefighters, 15 part-time firefighters, five ambulances, four engines — including a rescue and a reserve — a ladder truck, two inspector vehicles and a pickup truck.

“We have a lot of trucks and we have a lot of people and we’re very grateful for that,” Pace said.

The Cortland Fire Department responded to slightly fewer calls in 2022 at 2,164 — down from 2,227 in 2021, according to Chief David Rea.

“They just fluctuate from year to year,” Rea said, noting that in general, the call volume has gone up “dramatically” in the past decade.

Cortland City Council recently approved expanding the number of full-time employees the fire department can have for the first time since 1996, raising it from 10 to 11. Rea said the extra full-time position could be used as a “float” to cover holes in scheduling because its been getting hard to find part-time help.

While Cortland’s population has slowly and steadily been growing and, like the rest of the Mahoning Valley, is aging, Rea said another likely cause for the increase in calls is that fewer hospitals serve the area than in the past.

He said hospital mergers and closing of facilities, along with people waiting longer to get in to see primary care physicians, has led to more people calling for emergency services.

Theobald noted that when it comes to services like rides to the hospital, EMS vehicles sometimes get tied up waiting to transfer care of patients to overwhelmed hospitals. He said an EMS vehicle may wait at a hospital for as long as three or four hours.

Times become exasperated when more calls for service come in and nearby departments are asked for mutual aid, creating a ripple effect as more and more units get tied up.

Austintown, which is one of the busiest departments in Mahoning County, ran 4,943 calls in 2022, up from 4,895 in 2021; 4,286 in 2020; 4,370 in 2019; and 4,310 in 2018.

“The numbers are definitely up because we run EMS calls,” Austintown fire Chief Andy Frost said. He said the department starting running fire engines as a first response to medical emergencies when call volume increased because of COVID-19.

Noticing that people are sometimes calling an ambulance when it is not needed, Frost said Mahoning County has started an EMS committee that is working to develop public education about when a person should call an ambulance versus driving herself or himself to a physician’s office or urgent care.

He said people often believe that they will be seen quicker at the hospital if they arrive by ambulance, but that isn’t necessarily the case. People with minor injuries or health problems are sometimes asked to get off a cot and move to a waiting room.

Frost stressed, however, “if you need an ambulance, by all means call an ambulance.”

By the numbers

Total fire calls by department in 2022:

Howland — 3,847

Liberty — 3,595

Niles — 2,785

Champion — 2,427

Newton Falls — 2,178

Cortland — 2,164

Brookfield — 2,146

Girard — 2,144

Hubbard JFD (township and city) — 2,037

Weathersfield — 1,717

Warren City — 1,639

Bazetta — 1,390

Vienna — 1,024

Lordstown — 958

Johnston — 819

Bristol — 800

Farmington — 780

Southington — 618

McDonald– 523

Braceville — 505

Mecca — 368

Gustavus — 157

Vernon — 133

Orangeville — 41

SOURCE: Area fire departments