It was an up-and-down year in call volumes for the Dryden Fire Service.
Chief Kent Readman says they responded to 241 calls for service in 2020.
That’s down 17 from 2019 figures of 258 calls.
Readman says it was quiet early on in the pandemic as medical emergency requests dropped due to coronavirus restrictions and unknowns.
However he points out that they did see stretches of high call volumes.
Readman says this was the normal for most fire departments because of COVID-19.
Readman notes it was a crazy year for training.
“So many challenges with training that we faced with COVID and the safety precautions we had to put in place and the added work that went into that. But our firefighters stepped up and put in their time and put in their hours.”
Firefighters committed 1,619 hours towards training in the fourth quarter of 2020 alone.
Readman adds they had really good retainment in 2020 and they are sitting in good shape in terms of staffing.
The Service essentially reached their goal of 45 full time staff and volunteer firefighters with the late training of four new recruits. (40 Total Volunteer Firefighters and 5 Full Time Staff)
2020 Total Calls (241)
-55 Fire Alarm Activations
-41 Emergency Medial Assistance Calls
-33 Motor Vehicle Collisions
-26 Open Air Burning Complaints
-24 Structure Fires
-16 Carbon Monoxide Investigations
-13 Public Assistance Calls
-8 Vehicle Fires
-6 Grass/Brush Fires
-6 Arching Hydro Wires
-5 National Gas Emergencies
-3 Hazardous Materials Emergencies
-2 Elevator Rescues
-2 Garbage Container/Rubbish Fires
-1 Confined Space/Trench/Other Rescues
-0 Water/Ice Rescues
