Cambridge Fire Department reports 22% increase in emergency calls in 2023
The Cambridge Fire Department saw a 22 per cent increase in emergency calls for service in 2023 compared to 2022.
At a city council meeting Tuesday, Fire Chief Rob Martin shared the update with councillors.
His report showed there were 9,667 incidents in 2023 – that’s an average of more than 26 calls per day.
There were 98 structure fires reported, which is a five per cent reduction from 2022.
“We also have outdoor fires – about five per cent of the 22 per cent increase came from outdoor fires,” Martin said. “The other percentages would come from rescue calls. We had more river rescue, water rescue type calls, as well as [vehicle collisions] and medicals.”
Martin came on as the city’s fire chief in November 2023. In an interview with CTV News Thursday, he said the team did “phenomenal” last year.
“I would say that they knew that they were a busy department,” he said. “I don’t know that you necessarily realize the increase… until you see it in the numbers.”
The report says total fire loss equalled more than $9.2 million, which represents a very slight increase from the year prior.
Medical calls were up to 5,790, while the number of false alarms rose from 964 to 1,111 – a number that’s concerning for councillor Helen Shewry, who sees a lot of these as possibly preventable calls.
“If we could reduce those, I think it will be less strain on the fire department,” Shewry said.
Martin says the increased number of total calls meant they had less time for staff to participate in training exercises, and noted some proactive programs also suffered as a result.
There were 98 structure fires in 2023, which was down from the previous year.
Martin credits the work of the fire prevention team for that number decreasing.
But the overall number of other fires – like outdoor and property – rose last year.
Shewry wanted to know how many of those calls were for encampment fires.
She said Martin told her it was about 91 calls.
“So when you take your budget and divide it amongst the calls, per call – it would work out to almost $3,000 a call.”
Martin said the department is the process of developing new analytic tools.
“That will allow us to dig a little bit deeper – look for themes, look for trends,” he continued. “And then we’ll be able to apply some better solutions.”
In 2023, the fire department had 157 fulltime equivalent positions and gross operating expenditures of $29,637,000.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.