The Wayland/Yankee Springs Fire Department this week reported a record number of calls in 2024.
The call volume increased dramatically for the year. Over the same period in 2023. Wayland City and Wayland Township ended the year with 1,156 and an additional 164 calls in Yankee Springs, bringing the overall total to 1,320.
Some of the highest percentage of calls the department handled that are included in the 54 types of incidents:
• Building Fires: 42.
• Motor Vehicle Fires: 14.
• Brush/Woods/Outside Fires: 29.
• Motor Vehicle Accidents: 81.
• Gas Leak/Wire(s) Down: 60.
• Carbon Monoxide Alarms/Fire Alarms: 74.
A department spokesperson said, “The reason the calls drastically increased is due to WFD responding to priority 1 and 2 medical calls in our coverage area. This change started Jan. 1 of 2024, and accounted for a total of 599 medical calls, the department received.
“With the increase in call volume, a second full-time firefighter/EMT was hired and started in January of ’24.”
