2023 was yet another busy year for the Gering Volunteer Fire Department, with the total number of calls slightly less than the previous year.
The department’s firefighters responded to 920 fire, rescue and other calls, down by just over four percent from 2022, which was the busiest on record.
Delivering the annual Fire Department report to the Gering City Council Monday evening, Chief Nathan Flowers said the department modified their evening response due to a large increase in medical calls.
“Our members are split up into three separate shifts in their role, and they’ll rotate on call every third night. Shift operations start from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. An increase in medical calls and non-urgent responses are a nationwide trend. Many are volunteered for volunteer fire departments operated by services have seen an increase in stress in their first responders,” said Flowers. “Usually it becomes that same four people that show up to everything. We’ve been very proactive with our shift work and we’ve seen about 90% success rate with that. We continue to look for ways to improve our service while continuing to minimize any impact for our volunteers.”
The department also received a new rescue apparatus, and their wildland firefighting efforts were highlighted in the Working Fires documentary by Nebraska Public Media.
Flowers also noted the numerous hours of training by department staff, as well as response to wildfires across Nebraska and in the state of Texas.
