Our Fire Department is headed by our Fire Chief, Kevin Nicholson. He is busy evaluating department operations and working with committees that are reviewing and revising departmental policy and procedures. He is also working on a training program and establishing fire/rescue and EMS skill proficiency programs. Emergency preparedness is also a priority.
From January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007, the Fire Department responded to 2,262 calls. Of that number, 607 were fire responses and 1,655 were EMS responses. Of the EMS calls, 407 were trauma calls and 769 of the EMS calls were transported to BC Hospital.
During this same year, there were seven structure fires, 18 vehicle fires, 26 brush/trash fires, 49 HazMat calls, 242 activated alarms and 265 classified as “other”. There were 61 multiple alarms and 261 back-to-back calls. The average response time was 4 minutes and 12 seconds.
The Police Department is also very busy. During 2007, the Police Department Dispatchers received 107,925 phone calls. Dispatchers also served 5,069 citizens at the window. There were 31,540 dispatched calls for service.
Since taking the helm of the Police Department, Chief Finn has instructed his officers to become a more visible presence in Boulder City. Recently, the Community Policing Districts were created where an individual officer is assigned to a specific area of the city. You can go to the Boulder City website, www.bcnv.org, and see a map of the entire city area and who your officer is, complete with his or her picture.
During the last fiscal year, six new patrol cars were purchased and six new officers were hired under “More Cops.” Five of those were assigned to the newly-created Traffic Safety Bureau. This is a proactive measure to prepare for when the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge is opened and our traffic situation will dramatically be impacted.
Visit Roger at http://www.bcnv.org/CityCouncil/Tobler.asp. |