While Langley Township firefighters responded to fewer calls in 2010 than the year before, the number of medical emergencies soared by 36 per cent.
Firefighters in almost every jurisdiction in B.C. are the “first responders” in emergency situations, meaning that even though they cannot transport the injured to hospital, they are normally the first emergency personnel to answer medical emergencies.
Township firefighters were dispatched to 2,650 medical calls, and 1,072 vehicle crashes in 2010.
Residential alarms dropped by 32 per cent, the number of house fires fell by almost 15 per cent, and the number of times firefighters were dispatched to fuel spills or illegal dumping of drug waste declined by 16 per cent.
Commercial structure fires rose by 30 per cent, dumpster fires by 24 per cent, and vehicle fires by 22 per cent.
The number of calls for all emergency categories dropped by five per cent.
In total, Township firefighters answered 4,804 emergency calls, an average of 13 a day for the eight halls combined.
The statistics were presented to council on April 18 in a report compiled by the new fire chief, Steve Gamble.
In his report, Gamble said that the average response time was 4:54 minutes for paid on-call members, and 1:53 minutes for career staff who are stationed at fire halls.
“The department continues to meet its 2005 commitment to respond within eight minutes 90 per cent of the time
Gamble noted a predicament in recruiting and retaining firefighters. As president of the B.C. Fire Chiefs Association and first vice-president of the Canadian Fire Chiefs Association, he has learned that the challenge is not unique to Langley. It is felt in communities across the country and in Metro Vancouver, he said
There are three chief reasons: People are less inclined to volunteer, they don’t want to take up an on-call position that will take them away from family and work, and they are reluctant to commit to the hours of training each week.
In Langley, the challenge is more obvious in the communities served by the Otter and Fort Langley fire halls where there are fewer people in their 20s and early 30s. It’s much the same in Aldergrove, where the ideal age group for recruits is working outside the community.
