Champaign Fire Department works to prevent emergency calls from taking place

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — Jeremy Mitchell always knew he wanted to be a firefighter. As the son of a former Champaign firefighter, he practically grew up on an engine.

“He served 24 years in our fire department retired about 11 years ago,” Mitchell said. “And my uncle when the university had their own fire department, was a battalion chief in that fire department.”

He’s now been with the Champaign Fire Department for 18 years, and during that time, he has seen the job change and evolve.

“A lot of times and we only say a kind of half jokingly in the sense that every joke has a kernel of truth in it. ‘If people don’t know who to call, a lot of times we’ll call the fire department,'” Mitchell said.

Mitchell is now the Deputy Fire Marshal for the department. After responding to all types of calls for years, now he focuses on preventing those calls from ever coming in.

“So reducing the frequency and severity of our emergency calls is when you boil it down. That is what my job is all about. So even something that because it’s a new discipline, we used to just say fire prevention. Now we say community risk reduction because fire departments do so much more,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell recently held a informational meeting at a new retirement home in Champaign. They discussed fall prevention strategies.
Injuries from falls are the highest increasing number of calls that the department is getting.

“What kinds of calls were going to what time of day, what days of week, what part of the town, are we in, all of that sort of informs what we’re going to do to try to teach people how to be safe. And that’s a brand new thing in the fire department right now.

That kind of data analysis is mitchell’s bread and butter now.
And he says it’s how departments that are already stretched thin can continue to serve their communities well.

The number of applicants coming in to departments like Champaign’s is dropping consistently, so strategies like this help?

“I kind of a point of pride to say I beat 900 people to get my job,” Mitchell said. “And now about 150 people will take our tests so it’s getting harder to find people and we don’t really know why it is an industry not just in Champaign. We don’t really know why. Firefighting is not as attractive a job as it used to be.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.