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WHEELING, W.Va. — First responders in the city of Wheeling are reviewing crime and call statistics for 2021, which was released and headlined by the busiest year on record for the Wheeling Fire Department with the number of incidents.
The Wheeling Fire Department (WFD) announced its 2021 exceeded the previous record-breaking year of 2019 by an overall increase in calls by 9%. Medical/EMS calls for 2021 totaled 5,313, which accounts for roughly 68% of all departmental-related incidents. This is up nearly 20% from the previous year, the release said.
“What is contributing to that is one, our aging community in the area, and two is COVID-19. We have a lot of calls with people who have complications of symptoms of COVID-19 infections that we are transporting,” WFD Chief Jim Blazier told MetroNews.
Overall, total departmental incidents for 2021 tallied up to 7,849, up nearly 14% from 2020. In addition to more medical calls, officials believe the increase was due to the return of festivals, sporting events and activities that requested or required departmental presence or response, a release stated.
The information from the WFD indicated fire calls continued a decline in 2021, dropping 14% from 2020. Other reductions from the prior year included good intent calls, hazmat situations and other non-fire related calls.
“Statewide most departments are experiencing the same increases in some call types and reductions in some areas,” Blazier said.
Blazier, who took over as chief mid 2021, admitted that the record increase in call volume makes it harder to get the day-to-day operations of the department completed, such as training.