The Prince Albert Fire Department responded to 412 more calls in 2022 compared to the year before, primarily due to a 113 per cent increase in calls where the alarm was ringing but there was no fire.
The numbers were included in the Fire Department’s Year in Review package for Monday’s executive committee meeting. The department responded to 1,696 calls in 2022, compared to 1,283 in 2021, and 1,072 in 2020.
Of those 1,696 calls, 754 were for ringing fire alarms with no fire present. That’s up from 354 such calls in 2021, and 357 calls in 2020.
The category was one of the few that saw a year-over-year increase in 2022. The number of structure fires, vehicle fires, other hazard responses, and emergency rescue and medical calls all decreased. Only outdoor and wildland fires, Haz-Mat responses, and potential hazard responses increased.
Despite the rise in outdoor and wildland fires, calls for service from the RM of Prince Albert actually decreased. There were 18 calls for service in the RM, a 46 per cent decrease from 2021. Of those 18, six were for grass fires, four were for vehicle fires, and three were for structure fires.
The Fire Department responded to 269 outdoor and wildland fires in 2022, compared to 249 in 2021, and 133 in 2020.
The number of fire inspections and fire code violations remained stable The department reported a one per cent decrease in inspections in 2022 compared to the five-year average, and a one per cent increase in code violations.
