by John Tawa
The Manhattan Beach Fire Department's activity level remained constant in 1999, but its response times improved, according to statistics released Monday.
A total of 2,474 responses were logged in 1999, compared to 2,468 a year earlier and 2,521 in 1997.
According to the Regional Communications Center, the department's response time improved 14 seconds to an average of four minutes, fifteen seconds.
"That's a very good response time," said Manhattan Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Ken Shuck. "It was an effort on our part to get out the door a little quicker."
Fire calls numbered 204, one more than last year. The year's fire loss of $1.4 million was twice that of last year due to at least three serious residential structure fires - on Bayview, Poinsettia and 19th Place- but no deaths or serious injuries were reported.
New data reporting software allowed the fire department to better track calls in 1999. That accounts for the dramatic drop-off in building fire responses from 114 in 1998 to 19 in 1999, Shuck said, noting that the 1999 statistics now list 137 responses where no fire existed at the location as "No Fire at Location." Last year, the call would have been logged as a building fire.
Medical responses were down eight percent, from 1633 in 1998 to 1503 last year.
"I've been watching the statistics for the past five years," Shuck noted. "I'm kind of impressed at how consistent we are. The bottom line is we still have the same number of calls.
Only the drop-off in vehicle fires from a yearly average of 32 between 1995 and 1998 to nine in 1999 surprised Shuck. Newer cars replacing older ones might be the reason, he speculated. ER