Cresson Volunteer Fire Department responds to record number of calls in 2022; more volunteers needed

The Cresson Volunteer Fire Department made history heading into the new year by responding to 1,000 calls in 2022 — a record high for the department.

Cresson Fire Chief Ron Becker gave a year-end review detailing the department’s call statistics during the Cresson City Council meeting on Jan. 10.

A bar graph that Becker presented during the meeting showed that the department’s call volume more than tripled since Becker joined the CVFD in 2006.

“For this year that we just closed, it's not a made-up number; we legitimately ran 1,000 calls,” Becker said during the meeting. “The last one was about 20 minutes before midnight. It was a fireworks call. Then, we started this year at 11 minutes after midnight with a house on fire. Statistically that's up 16% since (2021) with 135 more call outs, and since I became chief (in 2015), we've more than doubled with 513 more calls and an 11% annual average increase of calls.”

In 2022, CVFD responded to 409 EMS assists, 223 fires, 114 motor vehicle accidents, and 129 cancels, where a call is canceled while the department is en route to the scene.

"It's very common,” Becker said of the canceled calls. “Like if somebody calls in with ‘My house is on fire,’ multiple fire departments are dispatched, and if someone gets there, and ‘No, it wasn't that the house is on fire, Lisa burned the spaghetti on the stovetop,’ then they call us and say ‘You don't have to keep coming,’ — and that happens more than you realize. About 13% of our calls were ones where we get pretty far down the road and then get turned around, but that's just part of the game.”

According to the report provided by Becker, the CVFD responded to 358 Hood County calls, 318 in Tarrant County, 200 in Parker (ESD6), 36 in Parker (city) and 88 in Johnson County.

The average time it took to head out on the calls in 2022 was two minutes and 52 seconds, a shorter time than it took in 2021 with three minutes and 45 seconds.

"When you have a volunteer fire department, there's really one drawback — it takes a little longer for us to get out the door because we're not gonna have the full crews,” Becker said. “We have a lot of guys that do sleep at both stations, and we work really hard to get out as fast as we can. Normally a paid fire department will get out somewhere in the range of a minute to a minute and a half, and we averaged two minutes and 52 seconds last year, which is a big improvement.”

Becker said the CVFD’s travel time on average is about seven minutes, so their total response time is around nine minutes — the same amount of time that it takes the New York City Fire Department to respond to a call.

“Statistically our response time matches that of New York City's fire department, so you're in New York City, you call 911, it's about nine minutes or so before they show up and about the same for us,” Becker said.

The average call typically took an hour and seven minutes to complete and averaged more than six responders per call.

"The max that we turned out was on a house fire over at Mustang Creek subdivision in Tarrant County," Becker said. "We had 22 of us on that call, and our roster of available responders is between 50 and 55."

He said the “biggest” statistic for the CVFD last year was the number of CPR and respiratory arrest victims that they saved.

"We had five CPR respiratory arrest lives that we were able to save by getting there quickly, and that was out of about eight or nine of them,” he said. “We're running about 60% save rate on those. AHA (American Heart Association) statistics on saves for out of hospital arrests is only 10%.”

The CVFD gave mutual aid to other neighboring departments 117 times and received mutual aid from neighboring departments 14 times last year.

Becker said the CVFD spent 2022 operating without a few trucks, like engine 39 — “the Hood County pumper tanker,” — rescue 30, and brush 530, the latter of which burned up in the fire last year near Tolar.

Fortunately, the CVFD also got the opportunity to acquire a “brand new” rescue truck and are waiting to install its radio.

Every year, the Granbury Fire Department hosts a training school for firefighters so they can earn Firefighter 1 or Firefighter 2 status. Becker said that in 2022, 14 of the Cresson volunteer firefighters completed the training in Granbury.

The biggest challenge the department has faced recently, Becker said, has been recruiting more certified EMS personnel and volunteer firefighters.

"Granbury and Hood County are the two largest fire departments (in this area) in terms of apparatus and personnel, but our manning levels coming out of the year are basically flat with what we started for the year,” he said. “If any of you hadn't been around me, I'll try to twist your arm to join the fire department and I carry applications in my truck. The average tenure of a volunteer firefighter is about five years, so when we bring somebody new on, we have to work really hard to try to get them trained and contributing as fast as we can. Right now, we’re running with 19 state-certified emergency medical personnel, and on most calls one or two is adequate, but we did get ourselves up into the mid-20s, and as high as 28 a couple of years ago, so we've got to push on that this year and get more of our folks through that training and certified.”

One of the biggest ways that they’ve gotten more members, Becker said, is through word of mouth.

"The very best way that you get volunteer firefighters is to hope that your current firefighters think enough of your department that they will try to get their friends and their relatives to come and work with us — and we have a fair amount of that that goes on,” he said. “I tell everyone, ‘We're just a bunch of misfits thrown together trying to make a difference in some people's lives.’ The city budget helps contribute toward running the fire department, plus some of the other benefits that the city provides for us, which is a big part of keeping the doors open and keeping things going.”

Teena Putteet-Conway, mayor of Cresson, said that when she first became mayor, she was told by Tom Foster, executive director of Johnson County ESD1, that the CVFD was “a unique fire department and not to take it for granted.”

"I don't want to embarrass Ron, but I'll be quick to brag on him because he really takes those young guys in, and he shows them the ropes," she said. "It's quite impressive what all they do, and it’s pretty exciting what the Cresson Volunteer Fire Department pulls off every year.”

To become a member of the CVFD, call Becker at 817-396-4448.