It turned out, 2015 was a busy year for the Burnaby firefighters.
According to year-end numbers provided by the fire chief to city council, the department responded to 14,028 calls for service in 2015.
That proved to be an increase from the 12,887 calls for service the department received in 2014.
In pretty much every statistical category, the numbers were up in 2015.
There were 263 reported building fires in Burnaby last year, compared to 251 in 2014.
There were 61 vehicle fires in 2015 compared to 48 in 2014.
The department dealt with 840 “other” fires (bush, rubbish) in 2015 compared to 682 in 2014.
The department dealt with 303 false alarms last year compared to 262 in 2014.
Firefighters were called out 9,272 medical emergencies compared to 8,368 in 2014.The department handled 1,369 public service calls compared to 1,133 in 2014. The number of people injured and killed in fires also rose in 2015, with 15 injured and two killed compared to 10 injuries in 2014 and no deaths.
The deaths were the first in the city in years.
Only the number of calls to motor vehicle incidents declined in 2015, to 1,130 from 1,294 in 2014.
The report does not provide a dollar amount lost related to fires in the city.
Last year was also the year a contract dispute between City of Burnaby and firefighters’ union came to a boil, with dozens of firefighters showing up to a council meeting in September to send a message they want a new contract.
The department has been without a contract since 2011. Arbitration in the dispute isn’t expected to happen before June.
