The Streator Fire Department has added a third ambulance to its fleet in an effort to improve service response times during periods of high demand.

The new ambulance will be staffed by on-duty firefighters trained as emergency medical technicians or paramedics and deployed when call volumes are high, according to the department.

According to Fire Chief Gary Bird, there has been a steady increase in emergency medical service calls, along with longer transport times to surrounding hospitals. Those factors have strained resources, with about 25% of incidents requiring a second ambulance to respond to simultaneous emergencies in the city.

The ambulance has been placed into service and will be used primarily during peak demand periods when multiple calls occur at once.