(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
February 19, 2015 - 11:09 AM
220 FIRES, NO FATALITIES
KAMLOOPS - A total of nearly 160 staff members took on more than 9,400 calls to service in 2014, including 220 fires and nearly 5,200 medical responses, making last year the busiest season ever for Kamloops Fire Rescue.
While it was a busy year Fire Chief Dale McLean considered the year fairly successful. Crews were able to confine the fire to the room of origin 83 per cent of the time and to the original building 94 per cent of the time, for a total loss of $3.3 million. More importantly there were no fire-related fatalities in 2014.
The fire department responded to more than 7,300 incidents in the city and another 2,000 for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, a total increase of about 12 per cent more incidents over 2013.
While much of the increase over 2013 can be attributed to medical calls, McLean says the spike is not because of changes to how B.C. Ambulance responds to calls.
“We’d be going anyways, but… we’re seeing we’re first more often, so times on scene are longer. But it’s not causing us undue concern,” McLean notes. “We are an aging population and there is an expectation the service is out there, so more and more people are relying on medical first response. It’s a climbing trend for sure.”
Of the 184 investigations performed by the Fire Prevention Office, 39 were considered suspicious, 18 were because of human failing or ignorance of hazard, 10 caused by electrical or mechanical failings and in 77 cases a cause could not be determined. Another 40 fall under the category of ‘other’.
Here is a break down of what calls for service looked like in Kamloops in 2013 and 2014:
Type of call: 2013-14
Airport calls: 1 / 4
Bomb threats: 2 / 6
Burning complaints: 101 / 108
Carbon monoxide alarm, dangerous goods calls: 94 / 104
Fires calls: 201 / 220
Fire calls, non-event: 102 / 128
Fire alarms: 541 / 521
Lines down: 15 / 14
Medical: 2,985 / 3,867
Medical, not action required: 1,656 / 1,320
Miscellaneous: 115 / 137
Motor vehicle incident: 572 / 614
Public service: 150 / 182
Rescue: 111 / 114
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015