Calls for service to the Gibsons & District Volunteer Fire Department were down 9.5 per cent – to 76 from 84 – in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same period last year.
Fire chief Rob Michael presented his first quarter report to a Gibsons committee of the whole on April 18.
There were several vehicle and dryer fires in the West Howe Sound Fire Protection District (which the Gibsons & District department serves) and a mutual aid call to a structure fire in Roberts Creek, said Michael. Four incidents required investigation or an Office of the Fire Commissioner fire report.
There were three out-of-jurisdiction calls for rescue that required a provincial task number: one where a woman was trapped under a fallen roof and had a broken leg, one was an overdose and BC Ambulance Service was delayed, and the third was for a youth in critical condition on Keats Island who needed rescuing from a rope climbing course.
Michael clarified that the department can respond to calls in areas where there is no established fire protection with provincial authority (so the province would do WorkSafe and liability coverage), but a life safety threat needs to exist for that approval to come through.
The department sits at 45 firefighters, including 10 new recruits. The department lost one firefighter in the last three months of 2022, as she moved across the country with her family, said Michael’s report.
