Washington Twp. Fire Dept.

Chief John Hoffman

Preliminary Statistical Data for 2011 Washington Township Fire Department

• 1,335 Emergency Response Incidents
  (This is the total number of emergency response calls handled by the fire department)

• 5,061 Non Emergency FD Activities
  (Non emergency fire department activities include fire code enforcement, fire investigations and other such related activities.  It does not include training or drill activity)

• 6,396 Total FD Activities (not including training or drills)
  (This is the total combined activities of non emergencies and emergency response calls)

• 108 Actual Fires within the jurisdiction of Washington Township
  (Actual Fires are emergency incidents where there was something physically burning including a building, a vehicle, or brush)

• 210 Rescue/EMS type incidents
  (Rescue calls include all types of rescues, water rescues, rescue from a stuck elevator, extrication from a car crash, and cardiac arrest calls)

• 442 Alarm System incidents
  (Alarm system calls are responses anytime a smoke detector or other type of fire alarm signaling device activates)

• 61 Carbon Monoxide Alarms & incidents
  (These types of incidents include when a CO detector activates and when there is actually carbon monoxide found to be accumulating in a home)

• 53 Out of town Mutual Aid incidents
  (The fire service is dependent upon utilizing resources of neighboring communities for larger and more serious incidents.  Several surrounding communities provide additional back up fire protection to Washington Township when our resources are committed on emergencies or other activities such as a significant department wide training drill.  We provide the same kind of assistance to them.  There are 5 surrounding fire departments that are part of our local mutual aid plan.  Responses by WTFD to neighboring communities as part of Mutual Aid represents less than 4% of the department’s emergency response call load)

• 37 Building/Dwelling Fires within the township
  (There were 37 actual fires involving dwellings or buildings in Washington Township, this does not include other types of responses to dwellings or buildings)

• 4 Building/Dwelling Fires that went to 2 Alarms
  (4 of the actual fires in dwellings and buildings escalated to 2 alarms which means all of the existing fire resources of Washington Township were committed and mutual aid had to be summoned to either assist in mitigating the fires or they provided protection for the rest of the township during the period of the fire emergency)

• 7 Building/Structural Collapse incidents
  ~2 of these were in township, 5 were mutual aid
  (There are only 3 fire departments in Gloucester County that have training and equipment to respond and handle structural collapses and specialized technical rescue.  These departments, including Washington Township Fire Department, work as a consortium sharing resources to handle these unique and very technical incidents)

• Station 10-1 responded to 335 incidents
  (The Grenloch Fire Company was dispatched to 335 incidents)

• Station 10-2 responded to 372 incidents
  (The Whitman Square Fire Company was dispatched to 372 incidents)

• Station 10-3 responded to 384 incidents
  (The Hurffville Fire Company was dispatched to 384 incidents)

• In house duty crews responded to 183 incidents
  (When a fire station or fire stations are staffed with crews at a given station, this is the number of incidents handled by those duty crews)

• Day time staff responded to 645 incidents
  (Career firefighters staff various fire stations through the normal work week, Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 5 PM, this is the number of incidents handled by those duty crews)

• Saturday duty crew responded to 61 incidents
  (Each Saturday on a rotating basis, 1 fire station is staffed from 8 AM to 4 PM to handle incidental fire calls and to provide “first due” response to more serious fire and rescue emergencies)

• 7,903 manhours logged on emergency response incidents
  (This is the total manhours logged for fire department personnel from the time an emergency is dispatched until the fire apparatus is available for service to another call.  It does not include the amount of time it takes to clean up and restore fire & rescue equipment, nor does it include training, drills, or other non emergency response hours)

• Fire Rate in 2011 was 2.07, significantly less than previous years
  
  
• 2010 fire rate was 2.67
• 2009 fire rate was 2.73
• 2008 fire rate was 2.84
• 2000 fire rate was 4.95
• 1999 fire rate was 5.16
  
  (The fire rate is a formula based on the actual number of fire per 1,000 population.  1999 was the first year the department did consolidated fire reporting.  Each year since 1999, the fire rate has gone down even though emergency responses have risen proportionately with the steady increase in population.  Washington Township’s low fire rate is directly attributed to an effective public fire safety education program and effective fire code enforcement.  Effective fire safety education and fire code enforcement indirectly SAVES LIVES and PROPERTY LOSS)

• 190 Fire prevention/education assignments reaching more than 15,000 people
  (The Washington Township Fire Department is actively engaged in all of the township’s schools delivering an age appropriate fire safety message at various times through the year.  The department also focuses on fire safety education for the elderly at our senior care and senior living facilities.  The young and the elderly at the most vulnerable to fire related injury and death.  Additionally the department provides fire safety educational opportunities at the various fire stations, provides free smoke detector inspection and installations, and provides fire extinguisher training to various groups through out the year)

• 1,443 vehicles moved or ticketed in fire lanes
  (Fire lane enforcement is shared jointly with the Washington Township Police Department.  The fire department was directly engaged in fire lane enforcement activity 1,443 times in 2011.  This number does not reflect enforcement totals taken by the police department)

• 3,045 Fire code enforcement inspections
  (Firefighters who are also certified fire code inspectors conducted a total of 3,045 inspections in business establishments, commercial properties, and all other buildings other than single family owner occupied dwellings.  The Washington Township Fire Department is the Local Enforcing Agency for New Jersey’s Uniform Fire Code which utilizes the New Jersey Edition of the International Fire Code.  All facilities in Washington Township should have a current Certificate of Inspection each year verifying compliance at the time of inspection with New Jersey’s fire safety regulations)

• 56 Fire Investigations
  (Under the fire marshal, the fire department maintains an experienced team fire investigators who’s mission is to determine the cause and origin of all fires of a specified value or if unusual circumstances exist.  These fire investigators work closely with the police department, the county prosecutor’s office, and the county fire marshal.  During 2011, the fire investigator’s performed 56 cause and origin investigations)

• 66 Fire safety permits issued
  (The fire marshal’s office issues fire safety permits for special events and for specified activities as described in the fire code.  A fire inspection is also conducted for each issued fire safety permit)

• 24 Planning and Zoning reviews conducted
  (Staff members of the fire department perform professional fire safety review in accordance with recognized and accepted fire safety regulations and fire safety standards of various projects being proposed within the township and submits comments to the planning and zoning boards respectively.  There were 24 such plan reviews done during 2011)