In spite of ban, fire department over-worked

The Barrhead Fire Department has been busier than ever, doubling last year’s record of 67 calls for the quarter and then some says fire chief John Whittaker, adding the blame rests mostly on the shoulders of the irresponsible.

That was the gist of Whittaker’s quarterly report which he gave to the County of Barrhead council on Tuesday, May 17. And while there is a provincial fire ban in effect for the region, despite the fact that it supersedes a municipal fire ban which is likewise in full effect, the audacity of some residents astonishes the chief.

“We’ve been fairly busy over the last few months,” Whittaker said, adding there were 21 fire-related calls in the county over the last quarter totalling 2,214 minutes or 7,320 man-hours.

“This time last year we had 67 calls. We just got back two minutes ago from our 136th call. We’ve been running hard the last four or five weeks. Last quarter it wasn’t so bad, but as soon as it becomes April, May and June, all hell seems break loose. I’ll be honest with you, our guys have been working really hard and Lord love them, they’re giving 120 per cent,” he said.

“Last year was our busiest year ever and we’ve more than doubled it already. I wish I could say they were suspicious calls, but those only account for maybe two of them in the last couple of months,” Whittaker added.

Every other call was either witnessed by someone or there is information as to how they started, Whittaker said, adding it is frustrating for the fire department because if there was a firebug in the community, it could be said the fires were developing because of criminal activity.

“We don’t though, and it is just so dry out there. I had a phone call the other day from a guy wanting to use a propane fire base and asking whether the ban was still on. I told him it was and no, propane fires are causing false alarms the department doesn’t want to be going out for if they don’t have to. He said he was going to do it whether we liked it or not,” Whittaker added.

The smallest fine for a fire-ban violation is $250, Whittaker said, adding offenders get to pay for the cost of the response as well.

Another incident Whittaker described involved a pair of youths who had a fire in the trees behind Beaver Brook two days after the fire in Fort McMurray.

“Those are some of the kinds of calls we are getting, some are just people not using their heads — we’ve had people try to use propane barbeque pits and piling wood on top, as if that somehow makes it okay, but on the other hand we also have people trying to be responsible out there who inadvertantly cause fires because of poplar fuzz or dry grass as well. It’s just a no-win situation. Hopefully we get some rain over the next few days,” he said.

In the last two weeks, he added, the fire department has seen more days with conditions specific to R-H crossovers, a weather phenomena where the temperature is higher than the relative humidity in the air.

“We’re getting beaten up out there, but our guys are standing up to the challenges and I’m really proud of them for that,” Whittaker said.

The first week of a fire ban is always crazy but the second week is usually less so, Whittaker said, adding in the county’s case that by the third week of the fire ban however, because it has been so dry, fires had been springing up everywhere.

“It’s a double-edged sword, whether we issue a fire ban or not. There’s no rhyme or reason to it unfortunately,” he added.