It wasn't quite as busy a year for North Battleford Fire and Emergency Services in 2010, and they are happy about that.
Fire fighting activities were down in the city, with 340 calls compared to 415 in 2009. When rural responses are added in the total, calls amount to 369 compared to 452 the previous year.
Drops were noted in a number of categories, according to the report filed by Fire Chief Pat MacIsaac and presented to North Battleford's monthly municipal services meeting on Monday night. A marked descrease was noted in the past five months compared to 2009, with December's calls totaling 23 compared to 32 the year before.
The most significant drop came in dumpster fires, which fell from 57 in 2009 to 23 this year. MacIsaac told councillors he attributes that to the recent pilot project of individual rollout bins in the area of the city that had previously been a high-risk area for such fires.
There were also fewer motor vehicle accident calls in 2010, with 31 calls for assistance, 20 medical care/assist calls and 24 standby calls. That compares to 41, 19 and 36 in each category, respectively.
There were 34 needle pickups compared to 47 the previous year. Dangerous goods calls (gasoline, propane etc.) were down from 47 to 34 in 2010. There were 10 carbon monoxide alarms compared to 13 the year before, and investigative calls regarding strange odours were down from 27 to nine in the city and from nine to seven in the RM.
The one area of concern in 2010 was the rise in structural fires, up to from 19 the year before.
There were also 18 vehicle fires compared to 14 the year before. False alarms were up to 16 from 13.
MacIsaac also noted animal complaints for the year are down from 743 to 671 - hopefully because people "are being better neighbours to each other," he said.
Yard cleanup orders under bylaw 1908 were also down considerably, from 767 to 376. The 2010 total counts junked vehicle orders, of which there were 41 in 2009.
Councillors were happy with the declines seen overall. Councillor Trent Houk he was pleased with the declines seen in both the yard clean-up orders, which he partly attributes to more people taking pride in their properties, and in firefighting calls.
"I'm really glad to see that in firefighting activities we're down 75 from last year," said Houk, who attributed it to greater prevention.
"That makes me extremely proud to live in this community, to see numbers go down like that," he said.
