Incident Statistics
2024 Fire & Emergency Response Data
Incidents by Day & Hour
Mutual and Automatic Aid
The St. Albans FD has multiple mutual and automatic aid agreements in place, spanning throughout the entire state of WV. Automatic aid is a prearranged agreement between fire departments to automatically share resources in response to an emergency. This eliminates the need to request assistance from neighboring fire departments.
Automatic aid is different from mutual aid, which is when resources are requested on a case-by-case basis. A single incident may involve both automatic and mutual aid.
We currently have in-place automatic aid agreements with Nitro FD, Jefferson VFD, Lakewood VFD, and West Side VFD. Our mutual aid agreements span a larger geographic area, including the entirety of Kanawha and Putnam counties, as well as statewide via West Virginia Emergency Management.
Automatic aid can provide many benefits, including:
Faster response: Automatic aid allows the closest station to respond, which can help get first responders to the scene faster.
Shared resources: Automatic aid allows fire departments to share resources, such as specialized teams, protective gear, and apparatus.
Improved staffing: Automatic aid can help fire departments quickly reach the recommended staffing levels for a structure fire.
Improved emergency response times: Automatic aid can help improve emergency response times, especially near city borders.
Better coordination: Automatic aid can help improve coordination between fire departments by establishing common dispatch and tactical radio frequency capabilities.
Year-over-year Analysis
As shown in the chart above, our total annual responses have steadily declined in recent years. This is due to an aggressive change to our response protocols, limiting the Fire Department’s role in responding to unnecessary/non-emergent calls which are better handled by other entities. Reducing the number of unnecessary responses minimizes wear and tear on our apparatus, allows more units to remain available to respond to true emergencies, and ultimately increases the efficiency and capability of the Fire Department.
Despite overall response numbers declining, total working fire responses increased for 2024. Looking back at the past 5 years, SAFD responds to an average of 60 fires annually.