Plymouth Fire responds to multiple calls Monday

Emergency responders were dispatched to 307 North Walnut Street in Plymouth on Monday afternoon for a house fire.  The county’s GIS lists the property owner as Van Duyne Properties LLC.

The Marshall County Central Dispatch Center dispatched the Plymouth Fire Department and LaPaz Fire at 3:43 p.m. to a two-story multifamily dwelling with heavy smoke coming from the south end of the structure.  Plymouth Fire responded with Plymouth 17, Engine 82, Medic 3, Engine 150, and Truck 1.

As firefighters arrived on the scene, flames were showing at the rear of the first-floor apartment on the south end.  Most of the fire was contained to the downstairs apartment on the south side.  The apartment sustained heavy fire and smoke damage throughout.  The second-floor apartment above sustained heavy smoke damage. The apartment on the north end of the structure had light smoke and water damage. 

No one was injured battling the blaze, although one dog died in the fire. 

The fire is under investigation. 

Plymouth Fire Chief Steve Holm gave members of the Board of Public Works and Safety a rundown on Monday’s Activity.  He said they had 8 calls during the day, 2 of which were traumas before the structure fire call.  He said during the structure fire, they had more full-time personnel come in off-duty than they had volunteers.

During the structure fire, the Plymouth Fire Department got a call and had to have another outside agency take the call for Plymouth.  The chief said they received another call of a full arrest at the courthouse, and they had no available personnel for the call, so they pulled a paramedic off the fire scene.  It was a delayed response, and Bourbon had to assist, and that individual passed away.   

While Plymouth Fire was still fighting the structure fire, they received another fire call and had to send an ambulance off the fire scene to handle that call. 

Chief Holm said the firefighters were released from the house fire scene about 6:20 p.m.  He closed his comments saying, “That’s just one example of our daily operations.” 

Mayor Listenberger said he was on the scene and saw a well-orchestrated response and didn’t know of the other calls. He said, “I don’t know what the answer is to manning and keeping our staff and having enough adequate staff of first responders.”  The mayor said he was having a conversation with the fire chief about this situation when they received the structure fire call.  Listenberger said the city needs to dive into this situation and try to find a way to tackle this issue.

The mayor said they are in the middle of budget talks, and these are real-life situations we need to look at.”