CANMORE - Canmore firefighters have never been busier. Last year, the department responded to 660 calls, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2016, according to statistics provided to municipal council on May 8.
CANMORE - Canmore firefighters have never been busier.
Last year, the department responded to 660 calls, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2016, according to statistics provided to municipal council on May 8.
Fire Chief Walter Gahler attributed the increase to a steady rise in population growth, adding the fire department has seen a six per cent increase in calls so far this year.
Among the 660 calls the department responded to, 386 calls were for fire/rescue while 274 calls were medical in nature. Only 48 calls, or seven per cent, involved fires.
Breaking the calls down by category, the lion's share were for medical assistance, representing 42 per cent of all calls, including 161 calls for basic medical support.
In fact, when responding to medical calls, Canmore Fire-Rescue was on scene first 36 per cent of time before EMS arrived.
"That 36 per cent seems to be tracking roughly the same this year to date," said Gahler, speculating that in most cases the fire department arrived 10 to 15 seconds before EMS.
The increase in medical calls follows a decision several years ago by Alberta Health Services to take over EMS services provided to the community. Prior to that decision Canmore's fire and ambulance services were integrated into a single delivery model.
The increase in calls also comes as a consultant team studies spatial and operational challenges facing the one and only fire hall in the community.
Gahler recently told council that growth in Canmore over the past 20 years, as well as future growth and space constraints at the current location, are all factors driving the need to study the department's spatial needs.
The consultant will look at construction costs for a new hall, whether the need is due to population growth, timelines and location and the possibility of multiple firehalls in the community.
The current firehall, located at the corner of Railway Avenue and 10th Street, was built in 1986 and since then the town has doubled in size to a permanent resident population of 13,000, with non-permanent residents around 5,000 and additional visitors in the community ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 on a busy weekend.
During his presentation, Gahler also took time to highlight the important role part-time firefighters play in keeping the community safe.
In 2017, 40 part-time members responded to 278 calls, providing approximately 3,892 hours in emergency response time.
"They really are the backbone of our service," said Gahler. "I just respect them immensely."
