Fire Chief Eugene Campbell presented the department’s annual report, which included response statistics, training information, departmental accomplishments and an update on Fire Station No. 6, during the Oct. 19 Missouri City City Council meeting.
Campbell said the coronavirus pandemic has affected the number of calls MCFRS received. However, the department responded to 119 more EMS calls in FY 2019-20 than in the year prior.
Of the total calls, the majority—64.6%—were emergency medical services or rescue calls, 2.5% were for structure fires or fire incidents, and 33% were other calls, a category that encompasses a variety of reasons, including false alarms, hazardous conditions and non-emergency service calls.
“Oftentimes, people don’t know who to call, but they can always call the fire department, and we’ll help them,” Campbell said. Furthermore, Campbell shared that during FY 2019-20, firefighters were able to respond to calls within the department’s goal of 8 minutes, 30 seconds 76.25% of the time. The department’s goal is to respond to 90% of calls within this amount of time.
“We are looking to build out Station [No.] 6, which we are looking to break ground on in the near future,” Campbell said. “[That] is going to improve our response time and get us closer to our response time goal.”
Campbell said that Fire Station No. 6 will be a priority for the department in the upcoming year. Construction on the new station, which will be located at Parks Edge Boulevard and Lake Olympia Parkway, is set to begin in December or January, Campbell said. Additionally, prior to the station opening in December 2021, MCFRS will receive a new fire truck for the station in June 2021 and will begin staffing and training firefighters in September 2021.
