Coconut Creek Fire Statistics

By Steven A. Pollio, Fire Chief

With the City on a fiscal year from October to September, this time of year is always a good time to review the Fire Rescue statistics. We have had time to compile last year’s numbers, and are preparing for the upcoming 2010 budget kickoff process. So I thought that I would share with you some of the statistical data from 2008.

In 2008, we responded to 5,724 emergency calls in Coconut Creek with the average response time at 6 minutes and 10 seconds. Fire calls include structure fires, car fires, fuel spills and leaks, fire alarm and smoke detector activations, smell of smoke, chemical spills, electrical short circuits and numerous other potentially dangerous conditions. Fire incidents consisted of 1,255 fire related calls including twenty-nine structure fires.

But the majority of the emergency work we do involves emergency medical service calls. These calls for assistance often include illnesses, car accidents, falls, heart attacks, construction accidents, attempted suicides, diabetic emergencies, seizures, and almost any other type of illness or injury that you can imagine. Last year we received 4,469 EMS calls for assistance, which resulted in over three thousand people being transported to area hospitals. I am pleased to report that our Margate-Coconut Creek Fire Rescue Department is operating well and remains adequately staffed for the current call loads.

Coconut Creek Fire Rescue Administration oversees all aspects of fire rescue operations and directly performs the duties of the Fire Marshal’s Office, Fire Safety Education, and assists the City Manager with Emergency Preparedness. In addition to me, our administrative office is staffed by a Deputy Fire Marshal, a Fire Inspector, and one Fire Protection Specialist, who is part administrative assistant, and part Fire Safety Educator. Together, this team performed over 1544 fire inspections as required by State Statute, reviewed 578 building construction plans for fire code compliance, also required by State Statute, and conducted 470 construction site inspections. This team is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all of our commercial and multi-residential buildings are compliant with required codes. I can tell you that the safety of our residents and visitors drives everything we do.

Coconut Creek Public Safety Education consists of training in CPR, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), First Aid, Accident & Injury Prevention, Fire Extinguisher Use, and of course Fire Safety. Our programs reached out to over 5400 residents during 89 classes. Our Public Safety Team stands ready to reach out to you or your community, please contact our office at (954) 973-6706 to schedule a Fire Safety presentation for your community or group.