CRANBERRY TWP — A mutual aid agreement among fire and EMS departments in southwest Butler County, as well as major weather events, led to a record number of calls in 2018.

Various organizations released their 2018 statistics this week, with significant increases in calls as well as volunteers responding to those calls reflected in the data.

In Cranberry Township, the volunteer fire company responded to 879 total calls, including 93 as a part of the Standard Actions For Emergency Response (SAFER) Group. Under the SAFER Group agreement, departments provide mutual aid on calls to increase response. Participants include the Cranberry, Harmony, Adams, Evans City and Callery fire departments as well as Cranberry EMS.

That number of calls reflects a 95-call increase over 2017, and continued a trend of steady increases over the past several years. According to information from the department, the calls equated to almost 500 response hours and 4,766 man hours.

According to Amy Behun, administrative assistant for Cranberry fire and emergency services, a breakdown of those figures does not show a clear reason for the increase. She said every category is within a few numbers of the 2017 data.

“There isn't one thing we can put our finger on that caused us to have 95 more calls,” she said.

Behun said even the number of mutual aid calls through the SAFER Group remained steady, as did calls during weather events. She added that while the amount of response and man hours are less than in 2017, that can be attributed to the types of calls as well as partnerships with other agencies. She cited work with township police and towing companies to clear vehicle accident scenes in a quicker fashion as an example.

“Overall, you never know what you're getting into,” she said.

The Adams Area Fire District responded to 873 calls in 2018, an increase of 20 over the 2017 total. It was the highest number of calls since 2012, according to information from the department.

The Callery Volunteer Fire Company responded to 437 total calls, up from 369 in 2017.

Data for the Evans City Volunteer Fire Company was incomplete, but reflected an increase in calls through September, with 208 reported in the first nine months of the year. This was an increase over the 2017 yearly total of 192, according to fire department data.

Meanwhile, the Harmony Fire District responded to 568 total calls, above the average of about 500. According to Scott Garing, Harmony fire chief, that increase reflects the amount of calls responded to as part of the SAFER Group.

However, two major weather events also caused the increase. According to Garing, flooding in Zelienople in July led to about 50 calls in a day, while an ice storm in November saw about 30 calls in 24 hours. In both instances, Garing said the calls may have been for such things as flooded basements or for road closures, but led to more volunteers on hand.

“People knew there was a volume of calls, and they stayed and participated,” he said.

The department saw 4,824 personnel hours, which reflected an average response increase from 8.3 to 10.4 volunteers per call. That increase sits well with Garing.

It's an average ... but that's a pretty good number, and I'm happy with it,” he said. “I'd like it to be 50 (volunteers), but that's not practical.”

Garing said there is always a need for volunteers, particularly during daylight hours. He said other commitments make the number of available personnel slim.

“It takes a certain person with a certain job to be available during daylight hours,” he said. “It's everybody's biggest struggle.”

Editors note: The numbers of calls answered by the Adams Area Fire District in 2018 was incorrect. The numbers have been updated.