1. Elk River Fire - 2021 Annual Report
City of Elk River Fire
Department
2021 Year-End Report
City of Otsego
2021 Emergency Response – City of Otsego
Page 2 of 8
From the Chief’s Desk
Greetings,
The following is the breakdown of emergency response by the Elk River Fire Department for the
City of Otsego during the year 2021. It hopefully will provide a better understanding of the types of
emergency response we provide to your city. As we continued to battle through a pandemic, keeping
our department members healthy and safe was a top priority so that we continued having an
adequate response. The year 2021 brought an increase in emergency response for our department
that we have not seen since 2012 with an increase of eighty-seven calls for service from 2020 to
2021 and reached a milestone of 577 total responses. Out of the 577 responses, 110 of those were to
the City of Otsego.
The Elk River Fire Department continues to be one of the busiest departments in the Northwest
Metro of the Twin Cities, and we provide an all-hazards approach to emergency response for our
communities. Our department members are provided 16 hours of training every month to meet the
requirements as a Minnesota licensed firefighter, which includes training in firefighting, hazardous
materials, special rescue, and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). In addition to the training of our
current members, we provide a fire academy for future members of our department and
surrounding jurisdictions.
In conclusion, as we continue to recover from a pandemic, we will continue to plan for the
challenges and opportunities that we will face over the next several years. Population growth and an
increase in development will bring a continued rise in our response numbers. Last year we had more
motor vehicle accidents due to the road construction, and an increase in alarms from economic
development. One of our newest programs that was developed last year is our Community Risk
Reduction program, this is a joint effort through Emergency Management, Building inspections, and
education. The goal of this program is to prioritize risks and provide resources through prevention
and education to reduce the occurrence and impact of those risks.
We are thankful for the support we have received from our neighboring community of Otsego, and
the opportunity to serve those in need.
Sincerely,
Mark Dickinson
Elk River Fire Chief & Director of Emergency Management
2021 Emergency Response – City of Otsego
Page 3 of 8
23%
28%
11%
16%
15%
1%
6%
2021 Total Incidents - 577
Fires (131)
Alarms (160)
Hazardous Materials (64)
Vehicle Accidents (93)
False Alarms (88)
Agency Assists (8)
Medical (33)
25%
26%
7%
14%
21%
2%
5%
2021 Otsego Total Incidents - 110
Fires (27)
Alarms (29)
Hazardous Materials (8)
Vehicle Accidents (15)
False Alarms (23)
Agency Assist (2)
Medical (6)
2021 Emergency Response – City of Otsego
Page 4 of 8
The Elk River Fire Department received a total of 577 calls for service in 2021. The pie chart above
breaks down the 577 incidents into categories based on the National Fire Incident Reporting
Systems (NFIRS). (All categories are broken down further on the following pages.)
Category #1 (Fires) are what most people think of when they picture a fire department response.
This includes all structural, vehicle, wild land, cooking, rubbish, mutual aid and miscellaneous.
Category #2 (Alarms) includes all carbon monoxide, sprinkler, and fire alarms responded to where
no fire was found upon arrival.
Category #3 (Hazardous Materials) pertains to incidents involving a hazardous materials leak, spill,
or release (i.e., natural gas, fuel, etc.).
Category #4 (Vehicle Accidents) involves a response to motorized vehicle accidents that include
both injured and non-injured patients. Extrication of patients from vehicles is an advanced skill that
is often needed.
Category 5 (False alarms) includes all 911 activations where we responded but no problem was
found upon arrival, or we were cancelled by dispatch en-route.
Category 6 (Agency assists) refers to responding to an incident to assist another agency (i.e., law
enforcement or utilities for downed power lines).
Category 7 (medical) includes all medical responses requested by ambulance.
All categories are divided further for more detail on the following pages.
2021 Emergency Response – City of Otsego
Page 5 of 8
2020 2021
The two graphs above represent our responses to fires in Otsego and provides a comparison
between 2020 and 2021. In the graphs, “structure” refers to residential and commercial fires that
resulted in suppression by fire personnel with damage to the structure. “Vehicle” refers to any
vehicle fire that did not spread to a structure. “Wildland” refers to grass/mulch fires. “Mutual-aid”
refers to providing fire assistance to Otsego outside our contracted areas. “Cooking,” refers to fires
that started in the kitchen but were contained to the cooking device, (stove, oven, microwave).
“Other,” refers to miscellaneous fires (mulch, lawnmower, grill, fence, etc.).
55
3
1
0
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
FIRES
8
7
5
1
2
4
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
FIRES
2021 Emergency Response – City of Otsego
Page 6 of 8
2020 2021
The above graphs represent our response to an alarm activation that was not a result of a fire.
9
2
8
Fire Alarm Smoke
Detector
Activation
Carbon
Monoxide
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Alarms
12
7
10
Fire Alarm Smoke
Detector
Activation
Carbon
Monoxide
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Alarms
10
2
Natural Gas Fuel Spill
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Hazardous Materials
7
1
Natural Gas Fuel Spill
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Hazardous Materials
2021 Emergency Response – City of Otsego
Page 7 of 8
2020 2021
2020 2021
10
1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Injuries No Injuries
Motor Vehicle Accidents
13
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Injuries No Injuries
Motor Vehicle Accidents
15
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
No assistance needed
False Alarms
23
0
5
10
15
20
25
No assistance needed
False Alarms
2021 Emergency Response – City of Otsego
Page 8 of 8
2020 2021
All our members are certified to at least Emergency Medical Responder or higher. Our medical
response is lower than most departments since we only respond if requested by ambulance.
10
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Assist EMS (Cardiac
Arrest, etc.)
Lift Assist
Medical
2
4
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Assist EMS (Cardiac
Arrest, etc.)
Lift Assist
Medical
2
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Assist Law Enforcement
Agency Assist