By 1808Delaware
At first glance, it looks like a routine monthly report. Columns of figures. Incident counts. Percentages. A heat map.
But taken together, the Delaware Fire Department’s December 2025 summary reads less like statistics and more like a portrait of how a growing city lives, moves, and occasionally struggles.
In 31 days, firefighters and medics answered 597 calls. That’s an average of 20 runs a day, with one day peaking at 29. For the year, the department responded to 7,228 incidents, a 1.71% decrease from 2024. Even so, the pace never lets up.
The Quiet Reality: This Is Largely a Medical Operation
Only 6 fires occurred in December. One explosion. Nine hazardous condition calls.
But there were 414 EMS incidents.
The top three dispatch reasons were:
- Sick person
- Falls
- Difficulty breathing
Nearly 80% of all calls were classified as emergency responses, and crews arrived within 6 minutes more than 70% of the time, averaging 5:12 from dispatch to scene. That is not accidental performance. That is the result of station placement, apparatus availability, and constant training. December 2025 Monthly Report
The busiest unit in the city was Medic 301 with 218 runs in a single month.
This is a fire department in name. In practice, it is the city’s front line health response system.
Where the City Is Busiest
The heat map on page two tells an important story visually. The brightest concentrations cluster along the core commercial and residential corridors, particularly near Sandusky Street, William Street, and the US 23 corridor. December 2025 Monthly Report
Station 301 alone handled 304 runs. Station 303 answered 205.
These are not random patterns. They follow traffic flow, housing density, and aging populations in established neighborhoods.
The Incidents That Stand Out
Several calls illustrate how varied the work can be:
- A vehicle leaving W. William Street and crashing into the porch of a Yorklyn Lane home on December 12
- A commercial vehicle fire on US 42 South on December 23
- Multiple injury crashes at major intersections including Sandusky, William, Liberty, and Olentangy
Only one fire in the month caused more than $10,000 in damage. There were no suspicious fires. No firefighter injuries. No civilian fire injuries.
That’s quiet success. The kind that rarely makes headlines. December 2025 Monthly Report
The Work You Don’t See
While responding to nearly 600 incidents, personnel logged 1,246 training hours in December alone, bringing the yearly total to 15,805.
They also turned every station into a collection point for toy and food donations, later delivered to People In Need and local pantries.
And on December 12, the department swore in two new firefighters and promoted three officers, a reminder that continuity and leadership matter as much as response times. December 2025 Monthly Report
The Opioid Reality
Narcan was administered twice in December and 27 times in 2025.
The listed reasons include cardiac arrest, narcotic overdose, and altered mental status. These numbers are small enough to be easy to overlook. They should not be.
They represent moments where seconds mattered.
What This Report Really Shows
This report is not about fire.
It is about:
- Traffic patterns
- Aging residents
- Medical emergencies
- Urban density
- Training investment
- Community service
- And a system that works quietly in the background, every hour of every day
When you map the calls, track the units, and look at the nature of the incidents, you see a clear picture of how Delaware is growing and where pressure on public safety resources is greatest.
And you see why a fire department today looks very different from what most people imagine.
Because in December 2025, the Delaware Fire Department was less about putting out flames and far more about keeping a city functioning, breathing, and safe.
