By Cindy Hoffman, Staff Writer

(July 27, 2023) The Berlin Fire Company delivered its quarterly update to the Berlin mayor and Town Council at their meeting on Monday.

From July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, the company responded to 155 in-town calls and 215 calls from out of town. Seventy nine of those calls occurred from April 1- June 30th.

From July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, the company responded to 44 simultaneous calls, with nine occurring from April 1 to June 30, 2023.

The average response time was three minutes 54 seconds for the year.

The company has logged 787 volunteer hours in emergency calls and 563 volunteer hours in training, meetings and fundraising from April 1 to June 30, 2023. The company has logged a total of 3,296 hours for the year in emergency calls and provided more than 6,000 volunteer hours for the year.

Recently donations have increased by approximately $9,000 due to a new $1,000 “In Memory” program.

The town budget carry-over to FY23 with the reduction to fund FY24 operating per mayor and council is $220,000.

The fire company has a $2.5 million loan, with $200,000 in annual loan payments for engine and rescue equipment.

EMS responded to 1,254 calls from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, with 874 from out of town. From April through June, 59 percent were out of town calls.

For the year, they conducted 918 transports and 336 non-transports, with 265 transports and 41 non-transports from April through June.

The response time averaged 66 seconds, a two-second decrease from last year.

EMS invoicing was higher for the quarter at $40,000 due to call volume and additional personnel that allowed Berlin to respond to more calls.

All county funds received for per ambulance allocation are being used to pay ambulance loan payment because the town did not provide any funds.

The town did provide additional funds for two positions but not for additional operating costs.