The Athabasca Fire Department has reported that despite a drop in the overall call volume, 2017 was the worst of the past 15 years for structure fires.
Fire chief Travis Shalapay presented the department’s year-end statistics to the Town of Athabasca’s council during their Jan. 9 meeting. He said their overall call volume dropped from 108 in 2016 to last year 97.
He said there was a 50-per-cent drop in false alarm calls, which came after town council passed a new false alarm bylaw last year.
“It is directly in proportion to our false alarms,” Shalapay said. “We’ve seen a significant decrease, and I believe that ties directly to the bylaw previous council passed regarding the false alarms.”
Shalapay said false alarm calls dropped from 51 in 2016 to 28 last year, and there was a 12-call increase in legitimate calls. However, false alarms still account for the department’s highest call volume at 29 per cent, and structure fires came in second at 19 per cent.
When walking council through the calls by type, Shalapay said it was the “worst year” for structure fires in 15 years. In 2017, there were 18 structure fires, up from 12 in 2016 and above the five-year average of 10.4.
Training officer and captain Jeremy Oakes, presenting with Shalapay, said when they speak with other departments nearby they “do not believe us when we tell them how many fires we had.”
“They refuse – they say there’s no way. I can tell you I’ve been there. I’ve been at these scenes at three in the morning at -40 C,” Oakes said.
It was also a bad year for ATV accidents, Shalapay said, mostly in Athabasca County. The number of calls was nearly double the five-year average of 3.4 at six. He also said the department’s current roster includes 15 current members, a decrease of four active members from 2016, but there were five new recruits last year. Overall, the department volunteered 3,324 hours in 2017, 75 per cent of which were spent in training or courses.
Oakes said it has “been a very good year” for the department, but busy.
