FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 7, 2020
CONTACT: Scott Stanton, Fire Chief
541-667-5135, sstanton@ucfd1.com

HERMISTON — Umatilla County Fire District #1 responded to a single-month record
number of calls for service in July, answering 525 tone-outs in 31 days.
EMTs responded to 425 medical calls, including 59 for transport of COVID-19 patients.
Firefighters also responded to 22 fires – 18 in fields, three in buildings and one involving a
vehicle. Only three calls were false alarms.

The previous record for calls in a single month was 459.
“We’re a growing community and we’re accustomed to the steady increase in calls for
service over time. But this is the biggest jump I can remember and it really pushed us to the
limit,” said Fire Chief Scott Stanton. “The extra calls for COVID-19 transport played a role in
that, but event without them it would have been the busiest month we’ve ever seen.”

Because of the high volume of calls, there were 12 delays of ambulance service because all
personnel and vehicles were on other calls.
“Having the right number of staff on duty and volunteers on call is one of the biggest
challenges we’re facing this year,” Stanton said. “Responding to every call as quickly as
possible is our top priority. Every call we get has the potential to be a life or death situation,
and we take that very seriously.”

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The Umatilla County Fire District #1 provides fire, rescue, and emergency medical services
for the citizens of the Hermiston and Stanfield area, as well as ambulance service to the cities
of Echo and Umatilla. Our full and part-time employees respond to over 4,500 incidents
annually from five stations.