ATHABASCA – The Town of Athabasca’s firefighters responded to significantly more calls in the first quarter of 2024 than they did in 2023 thanks to an increase in early wildland fires and a sharp rise in medical assist calls.
During the May 7 meeting, councillors got an update on the department's Q1 numbers, which ran from January to April. The volunteer firefighters responded to 35 calls in 2024, up from 22 in the same period last year. The biggest increase, according to Sturrock, was medical; the town saw 16 medical response calls in 2024, a 77 per cent rise.
“The calls vary; cardiac arrests and lift assists are the two main ones,” said Sturrock, who was accompanied by the department’s top medical officer, Lt. John Burton.
The other notable increase for the department was wildfires. In 2023, the department was called to a single structure fire and zero wildfires. This year, they’ve gone to four structure fires and three wildfires.
“There’s been quite a few wildfires already, so we’re hoping this recent water is going to help us,” said the department chief.
New recruits and new experiences
Currently, Athabasca has 25 volunteer firefighters, which Sturrock said is their ideal number. Despite the strong numbers, the department kicked off its spring recruitment drive in mid-April, and Sturrock said they were hoping to have some applications within the month.
“We’re pretty well equipped to handle 25 members, it’s just cycling out the ones who’ve stopped showing interest and stopped showing up,” said Sturrock.
The firefighters also work with youth members from the schools. Sturrock said the detachment had six youth members in their class, four of whom were under 18.
New recruits mean a renewed focus on training as well. Sturrock said the fire department is always looking for new training methods and opportunities.
“We try and train as much as we can, and one of our biggest things is we try and train things we don’t do often, which is interior firefighting, searches, and securing the lines,” said Sturrock, answering a question about a training exercise the department ran in Cornwall the week before. “We have the training centre out at the airport, but once you’ve done it a couple of times you get it in your head where the walls are and where everything is.”
Sturrock said the department has started to look for spaces in town where it can build an obstacle course to put members through. Not only does it create a better training environment for the volunteers, but it provides an evening of entertainment for neighbourhood children.
“The kids loved watching it, it’s getting us out there into the community and it’s some real skills,” said Sturrock. “Going in with full bunker gear on, with an SCBA on, on air, with a charged hose line, and climb through the obstacles and the tunnels — it’s hard.”
