Richardson Fire Department handled 16,060 calls in 2025, report says

Richardson firefighters spent most of 2025 on medical calls, not flames.

Chief Curtis Poovey told City Council on April 13 that the Richardson Fire Department handled 16,060 calls last year, and a little more than 75% of them were EMS responses. The department also recorded 60 structure fires, a slight decline from the year before, underscoring how often Richardson’s firefighters and paramedics are being pulled into everyday emergencies rather than headline-grabbing blazes.

The call mix matters in a city like Richardson, where population density and steady growth can strain service even when major fires are relatively rare. Poovey described the department as an “all-hazard” operation, and the numbers back that up. Fire crews and paramedics responded to fires, hazardous materials incidents, rescues and medical emergencies across the city, with a workload that rose from nearly 15,000 calls in 2024 to 16,060 in 2025.

The financial impact was just as stark. Poovey estimated nearly $257 million in saved property value last year, compared with $4.8 million in property loss. That gap shows how much of the department’s value comes from keeping smaller incidents from becoming larger losses. It also reflects work that happens well before a fire starts, including plans review, fire and life-safety inspections and preplans for all occupancies through the department’s Prevention Section.

Richardson’s public-safety footprint has been built over time. The city established its volunteer fire department in 1926, and today the department operates through three divisions, Administration, Operations and Prevention, from five active station locations: Headquarters at Station 1 on North Greenville Avenue, Station 2 on North Waterview Parkway, Station 3 on West Lookout Drive, Station 4 on Apollo Road and Station 5 on East Renner Road.

The annual report also showed how often the department is doing work that stretches beyond the city line. Firefighters completed 43 investigations and made nine arrests in 2025, including one case involving a serial arsonist tied to fires in six different cities. Those cases show the department’s role is not limited to response, but includes enforcement and long-term casework.

The higher call volume also feeds into planning for the future. Richardson City Council reviewed the Fire Department Strategic Master Plan in October 2025, and the plan envisions a future Fire Station 7, Ambulance 7 and related staffing. It calls for 21 additional firefighters and six promotions before that station opens. In a city where the busiest calls are increasingly medical, the question is no longer whether the department is busy, but whether the system will be large enough to keep up.