ESTEVAN - Calls for service for Estevan’s fire department slightly down in 2021
The Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) released their year-end call volumes, training numbers and other activity figures.
Calls for service went down in 2021 in comparison to the year before. They had 208 calls for service – 10 fewer than 2020. But when combined with the training activities, their total number for events stood at 297 for 2021.
"On average, that is a call or an event that the firefighters are busy with every 1.2 days with the fire department; comparative to the previous year, we're pretty much right on track," said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser. "When you consider the current environment that we've been living in for the last two years, where a lot of fire training and the inspections were suspended for brief periods as there were waves of COVID that were going through and isolations were being observed, we've been super busy. And we're very fortunate that we're keeping our staff healthy and safe."
He added that there were a few cases of COVID in the department, but the EFRS was able to react quickly and prevent further spread.
"Thank you, by and large, to our firefighters who were able to recognize the signs and symptoms and put themselves in isolation and then, of course, doing the self-monitoring and testing internally here to ensure that our staff is safe and healthy," Feser said.
Despite all the challenges, Estevan and Weyburn fire departments, in a joint effort, were able to bring all their members up to date on all required certifications.
Out of 208 calls for service in 2021, 77 calls were fire-related, which includes structure, vehicle, land and any other fires.
Fire crews also responded to 69 reported fire alarms, which include smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, natural gas or any other type of alarms occurring.
"Some of these are false preventable alarms and some could be a situation where the fire alarm was active, and it was a smoking or cooking-related issue. However, there just wasn't enough smoke on the scene to work any ventilation or further mitigation on behalf of the fire department," Feser explained.
Fire crews were also called to 38 motor vehicle collisions and 20 gas leaks in 2021.
"The gas leaks are something that we take a look at as far as the propane or natural gas leaks that come in, or any other fugitive gas that may be present in the workplace that we had to get called in to mitigate," Feser said.
Crews also responded to three fuel/diesel leaks and one smoke investigation call. And they had 90 training or activity events, which include their regular and certification training, as well as community engagement activities such as collecting Christmas gifts for the Angel Tree program and more.
