OFD Responded to More Than 2,600 Calls in 2021

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

The Oxford Fire Department had a busy 2021.

On Tuesday, Fire Chief Joey Gardner presented the annual report from OFD to the Oxford Board of Aldermen at their regular meeting.

The Fire Department responded to a total of 2,624 calls in 2021.

“That’s is an increase over last year (2020) of 863 calls,” he said.

The biggest increase was seen in medical calls.

“We had 1,022 medical calls in 2021 and 606 medical calls in 2020,” he said.

The busiest time for the fire department during the day is 12 to 4 p.m.

“That was kind of shocking to me,” Gardner said.

Thursdays are the busiest day of the week in regard to the number of calls and October was the busiest month for the department in 2021.

“I would never have dreamed that after all the calls we had in February due to the ice last year we would be busier in October,” Gardner said.

Firefighters performed 1,728 building inspections and visited 4,601 students in Oxford’s K-12 schools to teach them about fire prevention.

“In 2020, with Covid restrictions, we really couldn’t get into the schools but we still touched 1,015 students with fire prevention,” he said.