Fire House Facts

The Yuma Fire Department responded to 220 emergency calls for service

• 7 Commercial Assignments
  Including:  Booth space on fire at local swap meet, and various alarms
• 2 Hazardous Materials Assignments
  Including:  A mercury leak from irrigation metering equipment, and a ruptured fuel tank on a locomotive engine
• 28 Motor Vehicle Crashes
  Including:  3 involving a pedestrian (1 fatality), 1 involving a motorcycle, 1 involving a bicycle, 1 involving a building, and 2 rollovers
• 170 Other Medical Emergencies (serious to minor)
  Including:   8 for difficulty breathing, 10 for chest pain, 19 fall victims, 12 unconscious people, 8 seizure cases, 7 diabetic emergencies, 17 subjects with mental problems, 2 stroke cases, 1 child locked inside of a vehicle, and misc. other illnesses and injuries
• 13 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments
  Including: Food left of a stove unattended while the homeowner went shopping, the smell of smoke inside of a residence, power lines down, a child that started a fire outside of a business, cookies burning in a stove, and various alarms

Pedestrain Safety

Last week the Yuma Fire Department responded to three separate calls of a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle; one being killed. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on average a pedestrian is killed in a traffic crash every 113 minutes and injured in a traffic crash every 8 minutes. Pedestrians are out enjoying our wonderful winter weather, so we all should remember these simple safety tips:

• Cross the street at the corner or at a marked crosswalk, if there is one, and obey all traffic signals.
• Do not cross in the middle of the street or between parked cars. Drivers are not expecting pedestrians to cross mid-block and you are more likely to be hit if you do this.
• Make eye contact with drivers when crossing busy streets and continue to watch out for traffic the entire time you are in the crosswalk. Your life may depend on it, regardless of whether or not you have the right-of-way.
• Walk on a sidewalk; if there is no sidewalk; walk on the left side of the street, facing oncoming traffic.
• Watch out for entrances to parking lots. Sidewalks often cross driveways and entrances to parking lots. Always check to see if a car is entering or exiting the parking lot.
• Look left, right, and left again before you cross and keep looking both ways until you reach the other side.
• If you walk when it is dark, wear light-colored clothing or clothing with reflective materials so drivers can see you. A flashlight is also a good idea.      
• Pedestrians should also remember to check all lanes before crossing the street. Many times a driver in one lane stops, but a vehicle driving the same direction in the second lane has no idea a pedestrian is crossing, cannot see them, and fails to stop.

The Yuma Fire Department wants to remind drivers that they should remain alert and attentive in the event that a pedestrian is not.

For more information, contact Mike Erfert or Kayla Holiman at 373-4850.

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