Planning for a new Fire Hall, volume of calls for service and training for members among themes for Annual Report review of Fire Services

2021 was a busy year for the PRFD

The City of Prince Rupert's 2021 Annual Report released this week provides a glimpse at some of the work of the Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue Service last year, with the inventory of service calls highlighting the workload taken on by the First Avenue West First Responders,

Among the data review, a note on the 1,521 Emergency incidents that they were called out for, which included 14 structure fires, 3 marine fires, 58 motor vehicle incidents, 763 medical calls and 11 automotive  fires.

The City's 911 Dispatchers at the Fire hall received 7,700 calls during the course of their duties in 2021.

In total there were 5.9 million dollars in fire damages realized in 2021.

The fire fighters also were quite active in the area of training, with the members completing a number of training courses through the year, included on that list: Incident Scene Management, Confined Space Technician training, Officer 1 certification, Fire Service instructor training and Vehicle extrication training.

The local Fire department also benefited from propane industry specific training sponsored by Pembina at their RedWater Alberta facility.

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2022 saw the Firefighters continue to upgrade their skills and gain certification, as well as to receive some new equipment for the First Avenue West firehall with a new drying cabinet for fire gear.

This year also saw the city begin the process of initiative the plan towards a new firehall. The Department is currently working on the conceptual drawings for a new structure as well as to initiate a site survey to find an appropriate new location for the Service.

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2022 also saw the introduction of a new Fire Chief with Jeff Beckwith assuming the command of the department from former Chief Dave McKeznie.

The year also saw some new hiring and promotions taking place within the department, as well as the introduction of a Relief Forefather program at the Firehall.

You can follow the work of the PRFD and the Port Edward service through our Emergency Responder Archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.