Fire department sees "signficant" hike in call volume
By Kyra Hoggan
The Castlegar Fire Department is facing a substantial increase in call volume compared to this time last year, according to fire chief Gerry Rempel.
“Our call volume is increasing steadily every year,” he said, explaining last year saw 114 calls by the end of March, whereas 2010 brought 152 calls in the same time frame. “And it’s not only us … it seems to be the case for police and ambulance services, too.
“It’s a sign of the times,” he said. “The town’s growing and getting busier.
“There’s no particular type of call (that we’re seeing more of), just more of everything.”
He said the trend, thuogh fairly universal, does not hold true straight across the board – fire calls and rescue calls are up, while motor vehicle accidents are down.
“We’re getting more complaint calls, too, mostly regarding open burning,” he said.
Rempel said the increase is not playing havoc with the departmental budget the way one might expect.
“Calls are a very difficult thing to predict,” he said. “You can have fewer calls, but need to spend more time, or it could be more calls of shorter duration.”
He said a single call-out to a brush fire could see the department tied up 24/7 for a full week, whereas other calls can be wrapped up in a matter of minutes… ultimately impacting the budget.
“More calls doesn’t necessarily mean more expenditures,” he said. “Sometimes you have no choice but to go over budget, but it’s all working out okay so far this year.”
He said the few major calls attended by the department have seen fabulous community support for the firefighters and the work they do.
“The public’s been excellent – this is a great community, it really is,” he said. “They’ve been very supportive during our larger-scale incidents … people donate coffee and food and drinks to our crews , which I really appreciate, and the crews really appreciate.”
He also said the door is always open for potential volunteers. For more information, call the fire hall at 250-365-3266.
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