Things Are Heating Up for the Southington Fire Department

There’s been no shortage of work for Southington firefighters in 2011, and things don’t appear to be letting up anytime soon.

With responses to 22 structure fires in the first half of the year, the department matched its total for all of 2010 and surpassed the total of 17 for 2009. Those numbers, which extend through June 30, don’t include two more responses in July.

“Calls have really been up across the board and we are seeing increases in every type of call we are getting,” said Capt. Alan Zygmunt. “Structure fires in buildings are up 59 percent and calls in general are up 25 percent.”

In 2010, the department responded to a total of 2,007 calls including 843 during the first six months. The department responded to 1,125 calls from Jan. 1 to June 30 — a pace of 2,250 for the year.

Structure fires have represented the largest increase, with a March fire at Lombardo Court leaving Erik Kastner with severe burns. Kastner, who had run into the home fearing his family was still inside, was able to recover from the injuries.

At least four of the cases have been deemed arsons, with arrests coming in three cases, but the majority of the incidents were considered accidental, according to staff with the Fire Marshal’s Office.

Fire Chief Harold L. Clark attributes the increases to economic factors but said the arsons are not a result of the economy. None of the cases were deemed lit for insurance purposes or because of foreclosure, he said.

Three were caused by improper disposal of ash, he said, and others were mistakes made in an effort to reduce costs.

“There have been different circumstances in each case,” Clark said. “Historically, trends have shown that when the economy is down, people try and take shortcuts to cut costs, whether it’s not cleaning a chimney or completing repairs to a furnace.”

“When the economy is tough, people don’t think as clearly. The best advice we can give is to ask people to step back and evaluate to help prevent potential tragedy,” he said.