Wenatchee Valley Fire Dept. Receives 47 Calls In 48 Hours

The last few days have been exceptionally busy for the Wenatchee Valley Fire Department (WVFD).

"In the last forty-eight hours we've had forty-seven calls," says WVFD Chief Brian Brett. "Those consisted of six cardiac arrests, three structure fires, and two wildland fires. We also had a water rescue call yesterday. We continue to be extremely busy this time of year which is always very concerning because summer is really just starting."

In addition to the wildland fires in the Palisades and Baker Flats areas, WVFD crews were also called upon to extinguish house fires on Orondo Avenue, Highland Drive, and Marr Street in Wenatchee.

Brett says the barrage of calls has stretched his crews to levels that are dangerously thin, but fortunately they've managed to keep up with their usual response standards.

"All of our off-duty personnel and volunteers were able to get off work to help out. We essentially had double our usual staffing levels, and we needed it, since we had back-to-back calls and several incidents that kept us on scene for extended periods of time. We were able to meet all of the 9-1-1 emergency calls minus one aide call that we were unable to respond to."

To keep call volumes to a minimum, Brett is reminding everyone to follow all current city, county, and state burning guidelines and restrictions; exercise extreme caution with fire, including all outdoor cooking; and call the WVFD's Community Wildfire Liaison for information about creating defensible fire spaces around your home.

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