City of Yuma Police, Fire, and Parks Calls For Service & Incidents
Date:
08/14/2009 (Last updated: 08/17/2009)Summary:
Employees of the City of Yuma Police Department, Fire Department and Parks & Recreation Department responded to the following calls for service and reports of vandalism and graffiti this week.Contact:
For This Reporting Period and Year to Date
Yuma, Arizona - Employees of the City of Yuma Police Department, Fire Department and Parks & Recreation Department responded to the following calls for service and reports of vandalism and graffiti this week.
Yuma Police Department
For the week of July 27th through August 2nd, Yuma Police Department:
- Responded to 1,199 calls for service
- Documented 249 police reports
- Responded to 42 non-injury accidents
- Responded to 20 injury accidents
Significant incidents and community events include:
- On July 28th : An adult male was arrested for a felony warrant out of Maricopa County. As a precaution, a high risk traffic stopped was conducted in the 2400 block East 24th St.
- On July 30th: Two state workers thwarted an attempted suicide of an adult male that tried to jump off the 16th Street overpass of I-8.
The Drive Safe Location was 16th Street and our targeted intersection was Avenue B @ 20th Street.
From January 1st to August 2nd, the Yuma Police Department has:
- Responded to 38,613 calls for service
- Documented 8,372 police reports
- Responded to 1,475 noninjury accidents
- Responded to 571 injury accidents
- Responded to 3,043 alarm calls resulting in 12 police reports
Last Fiscal Year (July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009), the Yuma Police Department:
- Received 27,832 9-1-1 calls
- Received 109,450 incoming calls in the Public Safety Communications office
- Issued 4,010 Traffic Citations
- Made 748 Juvenile Arrests and 2,113 Adult Arrests
Yuma Fire Department
For the week of August 2nd through August 8th, Yuma Fire Department responded to 217 Emergency Calls for Service, which included:
- 5 Commercial Assignments, including: a large fire on the outside of a commercial building, a dumpster fire next to an apartment complex, and various false alarms
- 1 Hazardous Materials Assignment for a compressor for a large commercial air conditioner that was leaking coolant
- 15 Motor Vehicle Crashes, including one rollover, and one involving three vehicles
- 171 Other Medical Emergencies (serious to minor) - 22 for difficulty breathing, 15 for chest pain, 23 fall victims, 18 unconscious people, 3 seizure cases, 3 diabetic emergencies, 6 possible stroke cases, 6 suicidal patients, 2 possible overdose cases, 2 choking patients, 2 calls for children locked inside of vehicles, 3 for heat related emergencies or dehydration, and misc. other illnesses and injuries.
- 25 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments for
a smoke alarm sounding due to cooking, some plastic that burned on top of a toaster, a stove fire, 2 different calls for a power line down, a small gasoline spill, teenagers burning trash and wood in a back yard, and various alarms - 7 Commercial Assignments, including a vacant mobile home on fire, a tractor trailer fire at the dock of a business, and various false alarms
There have been 6 fire deaths of college students this academic year nation wide. Between 2002 and 2005 U.S. Fire Departments responded to an average of 3,300 structure fires in dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and similar residential facilities. Those fires accounted for an average of 7 civilian deaths and 46 civilian fire injuries, plus $25 million dollars in property damage.
Some infamous dates include:
- April 5,2008: Three University of Wisconsin-Stout students killed in a house fire in Menomonie
- October 28, 2007: Seven college students are killed in a house fire in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.
- August 27, 2004: Three University of Mississippi students are killed in a fraternity house fire.
- April 13, 2003: Five college students die in a fire in their Columbus, Ohio off-campus apartment building.
August is the time that students head back to school all over the United States and a time to give some thought to fire safety. Here are a few suggestions:
- Wherever you are living, have an evacuation plan. If your building already has one, learn it and practice it. If it doesn't have a plan, make a personal one!
- Identify two ways out of every room, know where all the emergency exits are located, and note any alternative ways out of the building. If you have a disability, be sure to include that when you consider your escape plan.
Dormitories regularly hold fire drills, when you hear an alarm, EVACUATE, do not ignore it! - Make sure your building has smoke alarms. Do not disable them or remove batteries. Test them regularly or be sure this is done by the management. Every year more than 50% of those that die in fires might have survived if there had been a working smoke alarm in the residence.
- Never leave cooking food unattended. Cooking was involved in 72% of reported dormitory fires!
- Candles and smoking materials are other frequent ignition sources, especially for fatal fires, and need to be used with care or not at all!
Visit www.campus-firewatch.com/pressroom.html for more information on fatal college student fires. (This link will take you to an external website that is not part of the City of Yuma official website.)
The Yuma Fire Department wants you to have a happy, healthy, and safe school year. Safety is No Accident!
Parks and Recreation Department
For the week of August 5th through August 11th, City of Yuma Parks and Recreation Department:
- Responded and cleaned up 86 incidents of graffiti
- 110 rounds of 9 hole golf were played at Desert Hills and Arroyo Dunes Golf Courses
- 518 rounds of 18 hole golf were played at Desert Hills and Arroyo Dunes Golf Courses
- The Putter Inn served 388 meals
- 27 events were held at the Yuma Civic Center with an attendance of 1,444 people attending those events
- 332 games were played at City of Yuma Athletic Facilities
- The Yuma Art Center hosted 1 event with an attendance of 362 people
- 47 ramadas, parks and fields were rented for special events
- 15 programs were offered through the City's recreation program, with 6,552 members of the Yuma community participating in those programs
Since July 1, 2009:
- 341 incidents of graffiti have been addressed and cleaned up
- 470 rounds of 9 hole golf have been played at Desert Hills and Arroyo Dunes Golf Courses
- 3,051 rounds of 18 hole golf have been played at Desert Hills and Arroyo Dunes Golf Courses
- The Putter Inn has served 2,201 meals
- 203 events have been held at the Yuma Civic Center with an attendance of 12,919
- A total of 1,049 games were played at City of Yuma Athletic Facilities
- The Yuma Art Center hosted 14 events with a total attendance of 2,012
- 453 ramadas, parks and fields were rented by Yuma area residents
- 234 programs were offered.
- 62,774 people attended the 234 programs offered.
Vandalism continues to be a problem in our parks and playgrounds. Numerous acts of needless destruction continue to occur in the parks and athletic facilities throughout our community. The tot swing at Sunrise Park was destroyed by someone cutting the seat. The cost to replace the seat $200.00. The baseball dugouts at the Elena Orendain Curtis Complex at Yuma Catholic High School were tagged with graffiti and at the Centennial Softball Fields, 11 sprinkler heads were broken and the fields flooded. Material cost alone to replace these heads was $325.00, in addition to the cost of water and the labor to replace them. The cost to clean up the graffiti was $405.00.
Vandalism and graffiti clean-up costs the Yuma taxpayers over $200,000 each year. Please help us reduce vandalism by reporting incidences of crime to 78-Crime and Graffiti to the hot-line of 329-2828. If you witness a crime in progress, call 9-1-1.
For More Information
For further information, please contact Greg Hyland, CPM, the City of Yuma's Director of Communications & Public Affairs at (928) 373-5023 or by e-mail or Dave Nash, City of Yuma Public Affairs Coordinator at (928) 373-5015 or by e-mail.
Follow the City of Yuma on Twitter
You can now follow the City of Yuma and receive the latest information from your Twitter account. The City's Twitter address is www.twitter.com/CityOfYuma. (This link will take you to an external website that is not part of the City of Yuma official website.)
Media Contacts
Members of the media may contact Director of Communications and Public Affairs Greg Hyland, CPM at (928) 373-5023 or (928) 580-4751, or Public Affairs Coordinator Dave Nash at (928) 373-5015, or (928) 941-0199.
