The numbers are out and for the Greencastle Fire Department, 2022 was a "record" setting year, according to local officials. 

For 2022, the department finished with a total of 1,506 calls for service and completed 2,982 hours of training last year. 

Of the calls, 63 were for fires, 712 were rescue and EMS related incidents, 90 were for hazardous conditions, 149 were service calls, 170 were good intent calls, 306 were false alarm or false call responses and 15 were for severe weather. 

Rob Frank, assistant fire chief, told The Putnam County Post that it was the second busiest year with 2019 with 1,498 calls for service. 

He noted the department dropped around 200 runs per year in 2020-21.

"In 2020 when Covid hit, our number of EMS calls went down due to us initially taking less Covid related EMS responses. We were not sure how things were going to turn out. We only have 15 firefighters and we needed to keep them healthy in order to respond to non-EMS runs. When Covid hit the fire house, we had to shuffle firefighters around in order to stay operational," Frank said. 

He added that during Covid, the department did not take as many alarm calls either, due to DePauw having limited students on campus and a lot of businesses and factories being closed or limited with employees. 

"In 2022 we were just catching back up to where we left off in 2019. We are pretty steady on most response categories with an uptick in the number of fires and alarms from last year. I think we will see around 1,500 calls if not an increase in calls for this year," Frank said. 

Frank said the Covid-19 pandemic took quite a toll on not only his fire department, but fire departments and EMS operations all over. 

"If you remember when everyone was staying home to "flatten the curve," our firefighters, along with EMS and police had to keep working. Everyone was doing what they could to keep crews healthy in order to keep running. The pandemic took a toll on EMS and fire departments who were trying to keep up with responses and keeping their crews healthy enough to keep operating. Getting proper PPE for our crews and then having to wear that PPE on runs was another challenge. There was definitely a learning curve and something we weren't prepared for. I feel like the county and all emergency services pulled together and made the best of a bad situation. We came out on the other side better from the learning experience that we had," Frank said. 

Through four days, the department had responded to 13 calls this year, with the majority being EMS responses, according to Frank.