The Stuart Fire Department had a busy 2017.

The department responded to 140 events, with an average response time of eight-minutes. While the time may seem high, the department responded to calls as far away as 20-miles from the station. The majority of the calls were in response to motor vehicle accidents, which were 40% of the department’s overall responses. The second highest was attributed to grass fires, at 26%. Medical assistance, structure fires, false alarms, and storm spotting accounted for the remaining 34%.

The department also received funding from two recent grants. They received $2,500 from Flint Hills Resources for new on-scene lighting and over $1,600 for wildfire prevention and safety equipment, including: two handheld devices, twelve fire brooms, and six water axe picks. Every firefighter was in compliance with both department and state minimum training standards. Additionally, each volunteer firefighter averaged just over 50-hours of training last year.