Dysart’s Fire Chief Mike Iles is reporting a particularly busy January in Dysart et al.
Iles met with Dysart council earlier today, detailing the calls for the department last month, and according to Chief Iles, the department responded to 39 calls in January of 2019.
Iles says that through the month, they had five snowmobile fires which are uncommon, and mainly responsible for the increased call volume. Iles says that in 2018 there were zero vehicle fires. Another detail in Iles’ report is the fact that Dysart firefighters responded to 16 medical assist calls, compared to nine through January of 2018.
While going through the report with the council, Councillor John Smith asked Fire Chief Iles if there is something that needs to be done differently to skirt this increase in calls. Iles responded by saying that education is a big tool that needs to be used to reduce the number of fires, and adds that the department responds to all calls as if they are a worst case scenario, using smoke alarm calls an example.
Through the busy month of January, Iles did note that there was only one large structure fire.