In Plymouth, Fire Chief Neil Foley heads up a department that oversees a town of over sixty-six thousand people who live in a town of just over ninety-six square miles. And the Chief says that in the last ten years there’s been a 40% increase in call volume and, actually, that volume has even increased since 2014—this, in large part, due to the success of the town.
WATD’s Bobbi Clark has more…
Chief Neil Foley says that beyond the actual population growth as a cause of the increase in call volume:
“…is the success of the town. The vibrant downtown area that we have, the restaurants, the entertainment that’s being brought in, is a 365 day a year business. So, we’re seeing more people come into the town beyond just the usual vacationers that come here in July and August—we’re seeing that all year long.”
And as for call volume, that has meant…
“…about a 44% increase since 2014 and that’s been a call volume increase pretty much across the board. We see about the same amount of building fires but we’re seeing an influx of medical calls. We see that the hospitals are overstrained, the healthcare system is strained. And that trickles down to the call volume that we see in people using 911 trying to get that help quicker.”
So, generally what was the busiest day of the week in 2024?
“Busiest day of the week was Friday, the busiest month was July with one thousand two hundred forty-one incidents during that month. Our slowest month was March—not that much of a difference, 916 incidents in March. The busiest firehouse was Station One Headquarters at 114 Sandwich Street. The amount of apparatus responses last year was eighteen thousand nine hundred and seventy apparatus responses, responding to twelve thousand six hundred sixty seven incidents.”
And in responding to those incidents, Chief Foley says:
“I can’t thank enough the men and women of the Fire Department, Local 1768. We’ve all been working together to meet this demand and to make sure that we’re providing the best services possible to the Town of Plymouth, its residents and guests.”
In Plymouth, Bobbi Clark, WATD News.
