Dauphin Fire Department has been less busy so far in 2023 compared to the same period last year and fire chief Cam Abrey is okay with that.

Between Jan. 1 to Oct 31, the department responded to 201 calls compared to 206 during the same period last year, Abrey told Dauphin city councillors at their regular meeting, Nov. 27.

“So only a 2.4 per cent decrease in calls. But any downward trend is always a good trend in emergency services,” he said.

False alarms continue to account for the largest volume of calls at 37 per cent, Abrey said, followed by motor vehicle collisions at 18 per cent.

In total, 3,628 hours were spent at calls with responses to the Rural Municipality of Dauphin accounting for 19 per cent of those hours and city responses accounting for 80 per cent. The final one per cent of time was spent offering aid to neighbouring departments in the Riding Mountain Mutual Aid District.

In addition 1,854 hours were dedicated to training during regular Wednesday evening training sessions, Thursday evening classes and Manitoba Emergency Services College sponsored weekend seminars.

“We continue our firefighting level one and two class held each Thursday evening for members of the Riding Mountain Mutual Aid District,” Abrey said. “We have several members from Dauphin, as well as members from Gilbert Plains, Ochre River and Ste. Rose fire departments attending this weekly training here.”

Looking back at the year so far, Abrey said among the workshops the department has hosted was Incident Command 200 training.

“It’s an excellent training opportunity for personnel that are likely to assume a supervisory position within the incident command system,” he said. “And we believe in that, training our members for the potential of assuming that role of command.”

A vehicle extrication seminar, an advanced fire dynamics program, a Pumps Basic seminar, a Pumps Advanced seminar and an emergency vehicle driving skills seminar were also offered throughout the year.

Recently, the department hosted an instructor from Alberta, who provided 40 firefighters from across the region information about fires and extrications involving electric vehicles, Abrey added.

“We were the second location that he was instructing in Manitoba, teaching us about the electric vehicle safety regarding extrication and the fires that are associated with the lithium ion batteries,” he said. “He uses a combination of classroom theory and he actually has a cutaway vehicle of a Tesla which shows where the access for extrication is possible, the location of the batteries and what our methods of control and attack may be.”

Finally, Abrey updated council on the status of the new pumper truck, which has been ordered from Fort Garry Fire Trucks. A recent meeting with the manufacturer resulted in some changes which might affect the $828,447.90 purchase price. Abrey told councillors the emergency lighting system has been upgraded, while some equipment has been eliminated to allow for additional storage in the cabinets.

“We are currently waiting on the pricing adjustments from Fort Garry Fire Trucks and we will advise once those changes are there and how that will affect our original pricing,” he said.

Abrey added while the new truck was originally slated to replace the department’s 2002 Freightliner pumper, a decision has been made to instead replace the department’s 2011 Spartan pumper, which has been costing the department thousands of dollars to continually repair its emissions control system.

“We do have two years until the delivery of the new pumper to come up with the final decision,” he said.