By Jim Newell

Review Editor

The Orion Township Fire Department responded to 97 calls for medical aid during a 19-day period in May, by far the department’s number one reason for dispatching its firefighters.

Fire Chief Robert Smith’s incident report to the township board lists 141 total calls for May 10 – 29.

Of the total calls, 97 were medical in nature, 7 were personal injury accidents, 3 were for down wires, 6 for burning complaints, 2 citizen assists, 11 Good Intent calls and 5 classified as “other.”

Only 2 calls were for structure fires, while 8 calls were for fire alarms.

The fires included a residential fire at 1:33 p.m. May 22 and a “structure” fire at 12:33 p.m. May 24. Other fires included a brush fire at 3:31 p.m. May 18, an outdoor fire at 4:12 p.m. May 19 and a vehicle fire at 2:34 p.m. May 22.

Many of the medical calls were to assist senior citizens with such issues as difficulty breathing, diabetic problems, seizure or stroke, falling down, chest or back pain or general sickness.

The week leading up to the Memorial Day holiday weekend was the busiest time, with 9 calls on May 22 and 10 calls each day from May 23-25.

The fire department had the most calls on Memorial Day, May 29, with 11 total calls.

Some of the fire department calls included:

The fire department responded to a car accident at 12:05 p.m. May 14.

At 3:15 p.m. May 15 the department assisted a person with a broken arm.

At 3:32 p.m. May 16 the fire department responded to a reported gas leak.

At 10:28 p.m. May 17 the department “responded to a deceased person.”

At 10:09 a.m. May 18 the fire department responded to a person bitten by a dog.

At 12:50 a.m. May 19 firefighters responded to a person with a bleeding nose.

Also on May 19 the department responded to a report of a suicide at 10:42 a.m.

There were four calls for drug overdoses: one at 11:57 a.m. on May 19, two overdoses May 20 and another at 4:51 a.m. on May 28.