Crystal River, Florida – The city’s fire department and the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office are experiencing rising call volumes while working to stay ahead of demand. During separate quarterly presentations, Fire Chief Frank Melillo and Sheriff Ed Blair updated city council members on first-quarter operations, training, enforcement, and community engagement.
According to Melillo, the city’s fire department handled 261 calls during the first quarter, including 85 in January, 74 in February, and 102 in March. The department maintained an average response time of 4 minutes, 49 seconds, despite the increasing workload. Of the quarter’s calls, 134 were fire-related and 117 were EMS-related. Notable incidents included a commercial fire at Spin City, a vehicle fire, three wildland fires, and two structure-fire mutual aid responses.
The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office also reported a sharp increase in proactive traffic enforcement and DUI arrests. Details on the specific numbers of traffic stops and arrests were not provided in the update.
The city’s efforts to improve response times and proactive policing were highlighted as key achievements in the first quarter. The fire department’s response time was credited to firefighters quickly moving from station to truck, day or night.
Originally reported by Citrus County Chronicle – Crystal River
