Manteca Fire responded to over 6,600 calls in 2015 reflecting a 12 percent increase over 2014 responses.

It is a record for overall calls.

A breakdown of what the calls were for including response times and other department activity last year will be highlighted in a department report being prepared for release in the coming months.

 Manteca Fire handled 5,993 emergency calls in 2014 compared 5,854 emergency calls in 2013. The 2014 calls were up 25 percent compared to 4,712 calls in 2010. There were 1,629 service calls in 2014 as well as 535 calls for other emergencies.

Manteca had 217 fires out of 5,993 calls in 2014. It is significantly below the record year in 2004 when fire crews responded to 336 fires. Losses were up to $3.3 million in 2014 compared to $1.9 million in 2013. That topped the previous record year in 2011 for fire losses when $3.23 million in property losses were recorded due to fire. Fire losses are based in current dollars and not constant dollars. 

Among cities in the region of roughly the same population Manteca has the lowest firefighters per capita. Manteca’s population in 2014 was 71,948. Manteca was served by 41 firefighters. Turlock with 70,364 residents had 45 firefighters, Lodi with 63,338 residents had 54 firefighters, Folsom with 73,096 residents had 55 firefighters, and West Sacramento with 49,891 residents had 62 firefighters.

Among the department’s priorities is to build a fire station at Woodward Avenue and Atherton Drive. Average response times to homes south of Woodward Park that are currently being built are outside the five-minute threshold. The fifth fire station would slash such response times by at least half. There are already 1,000 homes in southeast Manteca outside the five-minute response time. It is the fastest growing section of the city.

The city targets five-minute response times. Trying to get fire units on the scene of an emergency or fire within five minutes 90 percent of the time is a national standard. Typically a response in five minutes or less produces a better outcome whether a person has had a heart attack or if a structure has caught on fire.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com