The Aurora Fire Department — having already racked up more than $2 million in overtime last year — can claim the title of having the busiest firefighters of any department in the nation, according to an industry report.
The fire department union compiled 2014 data from Firehouse magazine, a leading industry trade publication, and found that Aurora firefighters respond annually to more calls per firefighter than any other department in the nation.
The 270 line firefighters in Aurora each responded to an average of 203 calls in 2014.
Cities of comparable size saw fewer calls, including firefighters in Tampa, Fla., which had 129 calls for each firefighter; Bakersfield, Calif., with an average of 159 calls; and Lexington, Ky., with 103 calls for each firefighter.
Even larger departments such as those in Denver, New York City and Houston saw significantly fewer calls on average compared with Aurora. Those departments have many more firefighters.