The Indianola Fire Department’s 2023 Annual Report is now available online, highlighting the department’s overall statistics from the past year, explaining the organizational changes the department experienced and recognizing its continued efforts in serving the community. Fire Chief Greg Chia presented the report to the Indianola City Council during its study session on Monday, April 1, 2024.
“The group that you have now that are members of the fire department truly attack fire because they want to limit the damage – whether it’s a wildland fire or structure fire – and they truly enjoy what they are doing,” Chia said during the report presentation.
Key data from the Indianola Fire Department’s 2023 Annual Report includes:
2023 Calls for Service by National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS)
In 2023, the Indianola Fire Department received 2,983 calls for service. A full breakdown is outlined in the corresponding table.
| NFIRS TYPE | NUMBER OF CALLS | PERCENTAGE OF CALLS |
| 100 – Fire | 76 | 2.5% |
| 200 – Overpressure Rupture, Explosion, Overheating | 5 | 0.2% |
| 300 – Rescue & Emergency Medical Service | 2,475 | 83% |
| 400 – Hazardous Condition | 46 | 1.5% |
| 500 – Service Call | 101 | 3.4% |
| 600 – Good Intent Call | 89 | 3.0% |
| 700 – False Alarm & False Call | 191 | 6.4% |
Annual Total Response for the Past Five Years
2023’s mark of 2,983 calls for service is a 3% increase from 2022 and continues to show an upward trend in total responses over the past five years, as reflected by data obtained by the department.
| YEAR | TOTAL RESPONSES | PERCENTAGE YEARLY INCREASE |
| 2023 | 2,983 | 3% |
| 2022 | 2,897 | 11% |
| 2021 | 2,599 | 5.3% |
| 2020 | 2,468 | 2.6% |
| 2019 | 2,418 | 5.5% |
| 2018 | 2,284 | 7.5% |
Overlapping Calls Continue to Rise, Average Turnout Time 'Faster Than We Ever Have'
A total of 1,050 calls – or 35.39% – that the Indianola Fire Department received in 2023 overlapped. Chia explained to City Council that the department is getting multiple calls to different events at the same time within a minute or two of each other.
“It started in 2017 when we noticed the big jump. We were at 27% and now we’re over 35%,” he said.
Despite the increase in both overall and overlapping calls, the Indianola Fire Department’s average turnout time to scenes is “faster than we ever have” for both Fire and EMS services, Chia said. The average turnout time for EMS calls is 2 minutes, 37 seconds, for Fire calls it’s 4 minutes, 58 seconds and the average for all calls is 2 minutes, 38 seconds.
“That there is a big change for us. Whether that’s technology or we’ve got more people – which we do have both – I know Locution has helped us a lot,” Chia said. “We have timers. They have two minutes to get out the door.”
Access Indianola Fire Department 2023 Annual Report
To view the Indianola Fire Department’s 2023 annual report, click here.
If you’d like to watch the Indianola Fire Department’s 2023 annual report presentation to the Indianola City Council, you can do so by watching the video below or clicking here.
To learn more about the Indianola Fire Department, please visit indianolaiowa.gov/fire.