Union County Fire Department Releases 2019 Calls and Activities Numbers
Community, Education January 14, 2020
BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – Union County Fire Department and EMA (UCFD) released their calls and activities for 2019.
In 2019, the department responded to 2,441 calls for service with 276 were in the City of Blairsville. There was an increase of 170 responses from 2018. The breakdown of the calls by type hasn’t changed a lot and represents typical department’s responses.
Of the 2,441 calls, 56 percent were medical, where the fire department responded from Station 1 to assist the Union General Ambulance Service on major medical calls. This number doesn’t account for the numerous First Responder calls that were ran by the volunteer firefighters who also assisted the ambulance service.
The remaining 44 percent consisted of fires, rescues, motor vehicle accidents, hazardous materials responses, searches, and other activities of the department. Fires and alarms accounted for approximately 9 percent of the calls, which included all types of fires ranging from a trash can fire to a structure fire. Additionally, UCFD responded to seven structure fires in the last month.
Rescues of all types accounted for approximately 11 percent including motor vehicle accidents. Hazardous materials accounted for 4 percent, and approximately 8 percent of calls were cancelled in route. The remaining 12 percent were miscellaneous calls and service calls which includes smoke alarm installs and public education.
Smoke alarm installations have been a great success for the department and the citizens of Union County. The department visited 182 homes to assess smoke alarms. These assessments involved determining if there are working smoke alarms, installed properly, and working correctly. Homes that were in need of smoke alarms received new alarms and are installed by the firefighters. The department installed 310 smoke alarms and 98 carbon monoxide alarms in Union County homes during 2019.
UCFD also dedicated itself to public education from car seat installation to CPR classes to general fire safety. The public education program provided education and information to approximately 3,700 children and 1,600 adults during 2019. Many of these classes were conducted in our school system and at festivals.

UCFD educating the public in CERT during 2019.
Fire Chief David Dyer concluded with, “We are very fortunate to have the dedicated men and women, both career and volunteer, who make emergency response and fire safety their mission.”
Photos courtesy of UCFD Facebook Page.
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