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Des Moines firefighters responded to nearly 31K calls in 2021, an 8.5% increase from 2020

The department had anticipated closing out the year with roughly 2,500 more calls compared to 2020.

DES MOINES, Iowa — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is from Dec. 29, 2021. 

The Des Moines Fire Department's official numbers show they responded to nearly 31,000 calls in 2021, an increase of about 8.5% from 2020. 

A Tuesday press release says the record call volume is part of a "steady upward trend in service calls that has seen the number of calls climb over 56% over the past decade." 

"Our department is proud to serve the City of Des Moines,” Des Moines Fire Department Chief John TeKippe said in the press release. “Our residents know that whether they have a medical or fire-related emergency, they’re going to have some of the best trained and dedicated firefighters taking care of them."

DMFD says approximately 900 calls in 2021 were fire-related incidents. Roughly 10,000 calls were other incidents like hazardous materials, public assistance or false alarms.

In an interview with Local 5's Mary Sugden on Dec. 29, Cpt. Chris Clement said this call volume does a number on firefighters. 

"With this kind of a call volume, it's rare to go to a fire station and expect to sleep at night," he said. "Many of our crews are frankly not even going to bed at night." 

Clement said firefighters typically work 24 hours on and 48 hours off. But this year, many have been asked to put in extra hours.  

"So to work 24 hours and then try to work another 24 hours when you haven't slept for the last 26 hours since you got up the day before, that gets old," he said. 

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While the overtime hours are voluntary and completely up to firefighters to accept, Clement says many are answering the call.  

"They've been handling it very well. But yeah, it's stressful for sure. There's no doubt about that." 

So, what is the reason for the uptick? 

The city says a large part of the increase has been due to the demand for emergency medical services, which made up 66% of calls in 2021. 

“Long gone are the days where the Des Moines Fire Department’s purpose was simply to put out fires,” TeKippe said in the press release. “When you think about the fact that the majority of our calls now involve medical services, it opens your eyes to how skilled our firefighters really are.”

And as the city grows, so do 911 calls.  

Clement told Local 5 the department is doing its best to keep up with that growth. The press release from Tuesday says DMFD was able to meet increased demands with Fire Station 11 on the city's northeast side. 

DMFD says Fire Station 1 was the busiest with over 10,000 responses in 2021. 

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