The Denton County Emergency Service District No. 1 and 2’s annual report showed an 18.8 percent increase in calls from 2023 to 2024.
Denton County ESD 1 & 2 provides fire protection and emergency medical services in Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon, Corral City, Lantana, Northlake and surrounding areas of Denton County.
The department has had to deal with some complications over the years, but it is ready to thrive in the next year.
“Our department has moved from ‘survival mode’ to ‘recovery’ to ‘sustainability mode’ and is ready to become a high-performing organization in 2025,” said Sheldon Gilbert, president of the Emergency Services District 1 board.
In 2024, the stations took 10.5 calls per day.
57 percent of those calls were for Emergency Medical Services and 43 percent for calls related to fire.
2024 had a total of just under 3,847 calls, which is up from just over 3,000 calls in 2023.
Denton County made up the majority of calls with 853. Northlake followed with 19 percent of calls, 703, and Argyle made up 17 percent of calls with 638.
The two stations are staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week by three separate shifts.
The 2024 report said the department was worked by 66 uniformed personnel, five operational volunteers and two civilian personnel.
Some of the significant incidents include:
- January 14: At 5:36 a.m., crews were dispatched to a structure fire at a storage building that housed large vehicles including a helicopter and an RV in the Town of Argyle. They battled heavy flames and smoke for six hours that was made worse by frigid temperatures.
- January 18: Shortly after midnight, crews were dispatched to a reported structure fire. Upon arrival, two mobile homes, ten vehicles, multiple sheds, lawn mowers and other debris were burning. By 2:33 a.m., the fire was contained.
- May 2: At 11:52 a.m, crews responded to a call for swift water rescue involving two persons that had capsized out of a kayak in a flooded creek. Two other people from the same group had also capsized further down the creek. The crews were able to bring all of them safely back to shore.
- May 5: At 3:56 a.m., crews were dispatched to a report of a structure fire in the Town of Northlake. En route, crews observed a large column of smoke and the glow of flames visible from I-35W. Upon arrival, personnel found more than 45 vehicles involved at a large automobile auction facility and began to contain it.
- October 18: At 12:30 p.m., crews were dispatched to a grass fire in the Town of Argyle. Fueled by dry vegetation and moving fast, several structures were threatened. Both directions of I-35W were shut down due to heavy smoke. Personnel contained the blaze to 30-40 acres.
The fire prevention division conducted 289 fire inspection reports that included fire alarm and sprinkler tests in residential and commercial spaces. It also looked at occupancy certifications and inspected emergency response software.
In the department’s training division, the EMS team logged 3,533 training hours per month, the Fire team logged 21,277 per month and the administrative team logged 1,290 per month.
The full report can be seen here.
