By Greg Ellison

(April 29, 2021) Covering January through the end of March, Berlin Fire Company President David Fitzgerald gave his quarterly report to the mayor and Town Council on Monday.

Fitzgerald said fire rescue calls totaled 58, with 70 percent from out-of-town locations, for the three-month period of 2021,

“For fire and rescue calls, the busiest days were Monday and Thursday, followed by Saturday,” he said.

Fitzgerald said peak call times were from 2-3 p.m. followed by 3-4 p.m.

Response times have fallen within the six-minute marker established by Worcester County before routing the call to another company.

“The fire company response time is 4.2 minutes,” he said.

Looking at revenue streams, Fitzgerald said several fundraisers are being planned during the next quarter and beyond.

“We’re in the process of planning a chicken barbecue,” he said.

On May 22, the Berlin Fire Company has scheduled a barbecue fundraiser at headquarters on Main Street to coincide with a car show in town.

“We’re trying to hold barbecues monthly through August,” he said.

Fitzgerald also noted several thousand guests would be in town for the Del-Mar-Va Volunteer Firemen’s Association annual meeting this Friday and Saturday.

“We do hope that we will generate some revenue,” he said.

Fitzgerald said the current quarter, from April thought June, is when the bulk of capital equipment expenses occur.

Turning to EMS responses for the first quarter of 2021, Fitzgerald said 227 calls were in town, while 131 were to out-of-town addresses.

Hospital transports for the 227 in-town responses totaled 161, while 85 of the 131 out-of-town calls were bound for medical facilities.

“EMS busiest days are Thursday followed by Saturday,” he said.

Fitzgerald said peak times for EMS responses were from 11 a.m. to noon and 10-11 a.m.

“EMS response time is one minute on average,” he said.

To this point, EMS payroll costs have been below budget due in part to staffing cuts.

“We eliminated the daytime position for FY21,” he said. “Payroll is our biggest expense but we are on budget.”