BOWDEN — There were some big changes in Bowden fire statistics, provided to the town's council recently by Red Deer County Protective Services Battalion Chief Mike Feduniw.
The biggest change occurred in motor vehicle collisions which shot up by 86 per cent last year, compared to 2023.
Total fire-related calls in Bowden rose slightly from 110 in 2023 to 115 in 2024.
Other stats were down.
The number of brush and outside fires fell by 42 per cent (24 last year, compared to 14 in 2023).
Calls requiring Emergency Medical Services (EMS) declined by 25 per cent (36 versus 17).
During an interview with the Albertan, Feduniw stressed that that those stats aren’t official, that they’re his own “hands-on statistics” for staff.
He said calls can fluctuate a lot, depending on weather and traffic.
“Our total call volume is relatively low,” he said.
In regard to the brush fire statistics, Feduniw pointed out that 2023 was an “unprecedented fire season,” whereas, at least in the Bowden area, the fire incidents were “more in line” with what would be expected.
Regarding the drop in EMS calls, Feduniw said Alberta Health Services (AHS) has made some changes to making the dispatching of ambulance personnel more efficient.
“We have seen EMS crews getting to the scene considerably quicker than they have the last few years.”
Out of 115 calls this year, Station 7 members were able to staff and roll a truck to 114 of them. Only one call was left unanswered, due to lack of manpower.
“On multiple occasions this year, the department was able to run two calls simultaneously. With only 11 people on the books, this is an absolutely huge accomplishment,” the document provided to council.
Feduniw said those stats are a direct result of a very dedicated group of on-call firefighters and employers who make it possible for those firefighters to take time off to respond to blazes.
Another factor is the mutual aid agreements with surrounding municipalities whereby fire services in the area backfill each other when not enough firefighters are available to answer certain calls.
Feduniw said currently there are 12 firefighters serving with Station 7.
“We just took on one (other) member,” he said, adding that on average the service has 11 to 15 on-call firefighters.
“We’d like it to be closer to 19 or 20,” he said.
