The California Fire Department had another busy year in 2015. The Department responded to a total of 491 incidents for the year. This was down slightly from the 503 incident count in 2014.
The types of incident responses varied a great deal, including structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and medical first responders, to name a few. The firefighters of the department also responded a number of times last year providing mutual aid assistance to neighboring fire departments and communities.
To keep up with the workload of the volunteer fire department, Fire Chief Allen Smith made the decision in the fall of 2015 to increase the number of firefighters for the department. A new recruitment program was put into effect and there are now 10 new recruits that are currently going through a six month training/probationary period. There could be another round of future firefighters recruited for 2016. The goal is to have the department staffed with a total of 30 well-trained active firefighters on the roster of the California Fire Department.
To add to the incident responses, the department was also very visible in various community activities last year. The department personnel took part in many activities, including parades, the Moniteau County Fair, the Ozark Ham and Turkey Festival and various Health and Safety Fairs.
Fire Prevention Week 2015 found the fire department spreading the word of fire safety throughout the community as it does every year. The California Fire Department spent time at the California Schools and day care facilities teaching children about fire safety as well as giving children the opportunity to see up close some of the tools and Fire Apparatus used by the firefighters.
The department also stayed busy with training for the firefighters. There is this phrase that circulates in the fire service "your fire department is only as good as it trains". So looking forward the department intends to refocus its training program and encourage firefighters to make the most of training opportunities.