Bloomington fire chief: Annual stats show continued need for northeast station

Bloomington Fire Truck
Travel time to the northeast part of the city is an issue for the department. (Photo courtesy Facebook/Bloomington Fire Department)

By Adam Studzinski

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s fire chief said Monday the fire statistics for the past year continue to underline the need for a new fire station in the northeast part of the city.

Chief Brian Mohr explained there continues to be growth to the northeast and his department’s problem is the travel time when responding to that area.

“We need to build a station and put a resource in that location in order to reduce those times,” said Mohr. “But the other side of that is we’re still seeing the over utilization of our downtown headquarters district. Until we address that immediate problem we’re not going to be able to see that big of an impact in those response times.”

Mohr presented the annual fire stats to the city council Monday night. The 2016 stats show the department’s units which respond out of the downtown headquarters by far see the most use.

“To be more accurate about that reporting as to how many of those calls actually happen in the headquarters primary district is, I think, the biggest eye opener,” Mohr said.

According to the department’s stats, the main medic unit in downtown responded to 3,772 calls in 2016. The main fire engine responded to 1250 calls.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

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