By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- The Sterling Fire Department in Illinois is on pace to surpass its 2025 record of 1,831 calls, with 1,313 calls logged as of Aug. 21.
- Fire Chief Dave Northcutt says staffing has remained largely flat for nearly 20 years while call volume has climbed steadily.
- The department currently operates with 21 members across two 24-hour stations, with Station 2 typically staffed by only two firefighters per shift.
- Northcutt’s immediate goal is three firefighters per shift at each station, with a longer-term goal of eight firefighters per shift department-wide.
- Officials say rising mental and physical strain on firefighters has prompted new peer support practices, including post-call debriefs known as “after actions.”
STERLING, Ill. — Sterling Fire Chief Dave Northcutt says his department’s call volume has climbed to a level that is straining a staffing model that has remained largely unchanged for two decades.
Sterling firefighters responded to 1,831 calls in all of 2025, the department’s first year above 1,800. As of Aug. 21, 2026, the department had already logged 1,313 calls, putting it on pace to exceed last year’s total if the rate holds through year’s end.
Northcutt, appointed chief in April 2025, said the department currently has 21 members, including one paid on-call firefighter, operating out of two stations staffed around the clock. The main station typically has three firefighters on duty, while the second station usually has two — one fewer than Northcutt says is needed. “We are not going to let anybody go inside a structure fire by themselves,” he said, noting that with only two firefighters, additional personnel are needed just to operate apparatus and maintain situational awareness at a scene.
So far in 2026, the department has responded to 79 fire calls, including 38 structure fires; 115 hazardous situation calls; 547 medical calls; 245 public service calls; 32 rescue calls; and 294 nonemergency calls, including false alarms and canceled calls that the department still responds to as a matter of protocol. Northcutt attributed part of the rise in call volume to greater public reliance on 911 for situations residents might once have handled themselves.
Northcutt’s immediate goal is to reach three firefighters per shift at each station, with a longer-term target of eight firefighters per shift department-wide before he retires. In the meantime, he said the department has adjusted scheduling — shifting from one day on, two days off to two days on, four days off — to give firefighters more recovery time, and has placed greater emphasis on mental health support through post-incident debriefs the department calls “after actions.”