Rural fire authority sees slight increase in 2016 responses.

Rural fire authority sees slight increase in 2016 responses.

#MasonCountyNews.

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

CUSTER — The seven fire departments in the Mason County Rural Fire Authority saw a slight overall increase in responses in 2016 compared to 2015, responding to a total of 990 calls; in 2015 the authority responded to 936 calls. .

The rural fire authority consists of Branch Township, Custer Township, Fountain Area, Free Soil/Meade, Riverton Township, and Scottville fire departments and is funded by the tax payers of Amber, Branch, Custer, Grant, Eden Free Soil, Meade, Sherman, Sheridan, Summit, and Victory townships along with the villages of Custer, Fountain, and Free Soil, and the city of Scottville.

Scottville Fire Department, which covers the city of Scottville, the majority of Amber Township, and portions of Riverton, Custer, Sherman, and Victory townships, had the highest amount of responses at 306, down from 311 in 2015. Free Soil/Meade Fire Department saw the highest increase in calls from 68 in 2015 to 102 in 2016.

The majority of the fire authority calls were medical emergencies, 631, with 219, 35%, of those calls from the Scottville Fire Department. The fire authority responded to 50 structure fires in 2016, an increase of eight compared to 2015.

Its departments also responded to 74 vehicle crashes that resulted in injuries, and increase from 55 in 2015. Of those 74 crashes, 10 required extrication tools.

The fire authority saw a decrease in grass/wild land fires from 43 to 33 with 56 acres burned.

• Structure fires by department: Branch, 6; Custer, 2; Fountain, 8; Free Soil/Meade, 8; Grant, 1; Riverton, 2; Scottville, 16.
• Chimney fires: Branch, 1; Custer, 0; Fountain, 4; Free Soil/Meade, 0; Grant, 1; Riverton, 2; Scottville, 1.
• Medical emergencies: Branch, 56; Custer, 64; Fountain, 119; Free Soil/Meade, 57; Grant, 45; Riverton, 71; Scottville, 219.
• Personal injury crashes: Branch, 10; Custer, 8; Fountain, 10; Free Soil/Meade, 10; Grant, 9; Riverton, 11; Scottville, 16.

See full report here. 

Tags: branch, custer, eden, fountain, free soil, grant, mason county rural fire, meade, riverton, scottville, summit