Brockton has 10th highest demand for firefighters in national survey. Why so many calls?

BROCKTON — Brockton has the tenth highest demand for firefighters out of hundreds of fire departments surveyed nationwide, according to a new study.

Fire Cash Buyers, a Connecticut-based company that buys fire damaged houses in the U.S., published a new study that analyzed data from the Firehouse 2021 National Run Survey to determine which cities in the U.S. had the highest demand for firefighters.

Using the number of 911 calls and comparing them to the total population, investors at Fire Cash Buyers found that St. Louis, Missouri had the highest demand for firefighters, followed by cities in Texas, Florida, Maryland and Iowa.

Brockton ranked tenth highest and was the only city in Massachusetts to appear in the top 10.

A total of 230 fire departments took part in the 2021 survey, representing 41 states, the District of Columbia, and three Canadian provinces, according to Firehouse. The departments represent municipalities with a combined population of 80,699,791 people. Firehouse.com is a magazine whose primary audience is firefighters.

Day in the life Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a Brockton firefighter?

How many calls did Brockton have?

According to the 2021 National Run Survey, Brockton received a total of 32,787 911 calls — of those 8,110 were for fires and 24,677 for emergency medical services (EMS) for a population of 105,513 residents.

For comparison, Boston received a total of 80,942 911 calls in 2021 — including 3,894 for fire and 30,300 for EMS for a population of 683,822. It wasn't clear what the remaining calls were.

For a population a sixth of the size of Boston’s, Brockton received thousands more fire related calls in 2021, according to the study.

A smoking backpack, scooters Lithium-ion battery fires on the rise in Brockton area

Why does Brockton Fire get so many calls?

While the Brockton Fire Department did not participate in the 2022 and 2023 National Run Survey, Chief Brian Nardelli says the department did over 30,000 runs last year, estimating that 60% of those were for medical calls and 40% for non-medical calls.

When asked why Brockton’s Fire Department is in such high demand, Nardelli, who's been on the force for almost 30 years, was reminded of a non-medical call the department received from an older woman whose basement was flooded.

“We were able to come to her aid because we’re kind of like an all-purpose service. We weren’t able to get rid of the water, but we were able to stop the flow to the basement. We have a lot of talented people who can do a lot of different things,” he said.

“When people don’t know who to call or what to do, they call us,” he said. “We might get there and not be able to address the issue directly, but we know exactly who to call to make sure people get the services they need.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton ranks 10th for calls to fire department in national survey