City of Yuma Parks & Recreation, Fire, Police Calls for Service & Incidents

Information For This Reporting Period And Year to Date (As of February 18, 2010)

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 Fire Department:

For the week of February 7th through February 13th, Yuma Fire Department responded to 263 Emergency Calls for Service, which included:

• 11 Commercial Assignments including a mattress fire started by a juvenile, an evaporator leaking ammonia at a cooler, the smell of gas outside of a business, and various alarms
• 3 Hazardous Materials Responses including 2 calls for gasoline spilled at a gas station, and an unknown liquid leaking from a drum
• 31 Motor Vehicle Crashes - 1 involving a pedestrian, 1 involving a bus, 1 rollover, 1 involving a house, and 1 involving 3 vehicles
• 186 Other Medical Emergencies (serious to minor)  - 10 for difficulty breathing, 12 for chest pain, 33 fall victims, 8 unconscious people, 6 seizure cases, 4 diabetic emergencies, 12 subjects with mental problems, 3 stroke cases, a call for a child locked inside a vehicle,and miscellaneous other illnesses and injuries
• 32 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments that included: A man stuck in a palm tree, a cat stuck in a palm tree, a cat stuck in a crawl space, a snake removal, water siphoning out of a large fish tank, a fire in a kitchen from a resident boiling a paint gun after its use without completely cleaning out the flammable liquid, a pizza smoking inside of an oven, a dumpster fire, a transformer sparking, a flag on fire in a front yard, 3 calls for power lines down, a semi truck on fire, and various alarms

Last week in Yuma, a child playing with a lighter caused a fire that damaged a shed outside of a Yuma home, and endangered a neighborhood. In 2006, children playing with fire started an estimated 14,500 structure fires that were reported to U.S. fire departments, causing an estimated 130 civilian deaths, 810 civilian injuries and $328 million in direct property damage.Roughly two out of every three child-playing fires -- and four out of five associated deaths and injuries -- involve matches or lighters.Most of the people killed in child-playing fires are under 5, and such fires are the leading cause of fire deaths among preschoolers.

• Store matches and lighters out of children's reach and sight, up high, preferably in a locked cabinet.
• Never use lighters or matches as a source of amusement for children. They may imitate what you do.
• If your child expresses curiosity about fire or has been playing with fire, calmly but firmly explain that matches and lighters are tools for adults only.
• Use only lighters designed with child-resistant features. Remember child-resistant does not mean child proof.
• Teach young children to tell an adult if they see matches or lighters, and teach school-age children to bring any matches or lighters to an adult.
• Never leave matches or lighters in a bedroom or any place where children may go without supervision.
• If you suspect your child is intentionally setting fires or unduly fascinated with fire, get help. The Yuma Fire Department, your school, or a community counseling agency can put you in touch with trained experts. ---- (Info from National Fire Protection Association)

For more information, contact the Yuma Fire Department Public Information Office at 373-4855.

Yuma Police Department:

For the period of January February 1st through February 7th, Yuma Police Department responded to an average of 176 calls per day.  During this period YPD:

• Responded to 1,236 calls for service
• Documented 255 police reports
• Responded to 70 non-injury accidents
• Responded to 25 injury accidents

The following major incidents occurred during this time period:

• On February 3rd, the Yuma Police Department participated with several other local, state & federal agencies in an emergency response exercise. "Operation Desert Eagle" was hosted by MCAS Yuma.
• On February 4th, a 13 year old female was crossing 1st Street in the 1400 block when she was hit by a 1991 Toyota truck.
• On February 5th, two vehicles were racing and both crashed into each other before colliding with two separate homes.  The collision resulted in minor injuries to the 17 year old driver. The other driver was 22 years old and both were booked into detention centers for various offenses.

From January 1st to February 7th, the Yuma Police Department has:

• Responded to 6,858 calls for service
• Documented 1,297 police reports
• Responded to 291 non-injury accidents
• Responded to 102 injury accidents
• Responded to 445 alarm calls resulting in 3 police reports

From January 1st through December 31st 2009, the Yuma Police Department:

• Received 208,555 calls into the Public Safety Communications Center
• Received 52,035 9-1-1 calls
• Issued 8,288 Traffic Citations
• Made 1,317 Juvenile Arrests and 4,164 Adult Arrests
• Responded to 84,332 calls for service
• Documented 13,740 police reports
• Responded to 2,384 non-injury accidents
• Responded to 933 injury accidents
• Responded to 5,085 alarm calls resulting in 25 police reports

Parks and Recreation Department:

For the week of February 10th through February 16th in the City of Yuma Parks and Recreation Department:

• The Graffiti Busters Crew responded to and cleaned up 115 incidents of graffiti
• 1,373 rounds of 9-hole golf were played at Desert Hills and Arroyo Dunes Golf courses 
• 1,615 rounds of 18-hole golf were played at Desert Hills and Arroyo Dunes Golf courses 
• The Putter Inn served 1,687 meals
• 19 events were held at the Yuma Civic Center with 5,244 people attending those events\
• 152 organized games were played at City of Yuma athletic facilities
• The Yuma Art Center hosted 3 events with a total attendance of 1,063
• 184 ramadas, parks and fields were rented for special events
• 37 programs were offered through the City's recreation program, with 3,937 members of the Yuma community participating in those programs

Since July 1, 2009:

• 2,342 incidents of graffiti have been addressed and cleaned up
• 14,415 rounds of 9-hole golf have been played at Desert Hills and Arroyo Dunes Golf courses
• 24,429 rounds of-18 hole golf have been played at Desert Hills and Arroyo Dunes Golf courses
• The Putter Inn has served 25,794 meals
• 766 events have been held at the Yuma Civic Center with an attendance of 84,606
• A total of 3,597 games have been played at City of Yuma athletic facilities
• The Yuma Art Center hosted 97 events with a total attendance of 27,968
• 3,289 ramadas, parks and fields were rented by Yuma area residents
• 1349 programs have been offered with 130,727 people attending those programs

There were 115 cases of graffiti abated during the week of February 10th through February 16th, with a total of 2,342 removed from July 1st to date.

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.

The 2010 Census Is Coming...

Did you know that each person living in Yuma who is not counted in the 2010 Census means a loss of $400 per person in state and federal funds for community services such as roads, schools, job training centers, etc.?

Accurate data reflecting changes in our community are crucial in apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and deciding how more than $400 billion per year is allocated for projects like new hospitals and community centers. That's more than $4 trillion over a 10-year period.

Stay tuned for more Census 2010 information.

For immediate information on the 2010 Census, visit the Census website (This link will take you to an external website that is not part of the City of Yuma official website.)

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.

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