From Sunday January 1, 2023 through Saturday January 7, 2023, the Yuma Fire Department responded to 325 emergency calls for service:

                  7    General Fire Responses
Including: 1 for smell of smoke in a residence, 1 for a house fire, 1 for a stove top fire, and various alarms 

                 3     Mutual Aid
Including: 3 for assisting Rural Metro with medical emergencies in the County 

              12     Motor Vehicle Crashes 
Including: 1 involving a bicyclist, 2 involving 3 vehicles, and 1 involving a scooter

            275     Other Medical Emergencies (both serious and minor)
Including: 33 for difficulty breathing, 18 for chest pain/cardiac issues, 30 for fall related injuries, 8 for unconscious people, 6 seizure cases, 8 possible stroke cases, 1 for an intoxicated person, 5 for people under the influence of drugs, 2 prescription drug overdoses, 12 for psychiatric problems (4 threatening or attempting suicide), 4 for medical alarms, 1 for allergic reactions, 1 for choking, 21 for altered or decreased level of consciousness, 2 for fevers, 1 for broken bones, 3 for diabetic emergencies, 1 for a spider bit, 1 for a dog bite, 6 for man down calls, 7 for uncontrolled bleeding, 5 for bad headaches, 1 for a gunshot wound, 4 for assaults, 3 for back pain, 16 for abdominal pain, 1 pregnancy related, 4 for a deceased person, 1 for alcohol withdrawals, 1 for lacerations, 13 welfare checks, 1 for a person injured when he was caught between two forklifts, 1 for a 2 year old injured by falling off of a bed, and other illnesses and injuries (Note: 1 of the week’s total responses was to the USBP holding facility)

             28     Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments
Including: 1 to assist YPD with an EMS standby, 1 to assist YPD with an injured suspect, 1 for the illegal burning of a tree stump, 1 for the smell of propane, 2 for strong natural gas smells at 32nd Street at Avenue 3E, 2 for vehicle fires, 1 for an alley fire, 2 for trash can fires, 2 for dumpster fires, 1 for illegal burning, and various alarms

Every year 2000 to 3000 people die in fires here in the United States. It is estimated that half of those who die may have lived, if there had been a working smoke alarm in the home. Most homes these days are equipped with smoke alarms, but due to poor maintenance (often batteries are found to be dead, disconnected, or missing) many fail to work properly when a fire occurs. Batteries should be replaced at least once a year and alarms tested monthly (and alarms replaced every 10 years). 

Combine your alarm tests with doing home fire drills (your kids do them at school and they are even more important at home!) and your family will be more likely to recognize the sound of the alarm and take the proper action in a real emergency. Fires grow quickly and the deadly smoke from fires kill more people than the fire itself. 

Every week YFD personnel respond to calls from residents whose smoke alarms are sounding. Fortunately, this doesn’t always involve a fire, often it just involves a resident needing assistance with the alarm. Frequently this is just a matter of the batteries needing to be replaced, and/or an alarm the resident is not familiar with. Often this is a late night disturbance for the resident (why does that always seem to happen at 2:00am?) that could have been avoided by regularly changing the batteries. Smoke Alarms Save Lives, and they are some of the cheapest insurance you can buy, but they will do no good if they are not working properly.

For more information about fire and injury prevention classes we offer, contact the Yuma Fire Department Public Information Office at 373-4855, you can also “Follow” us at www.twitter.com/YumaFireDept or on Instagram @YumaFireDepartment