Burnaby firefighters were off to a busy start this year.
The department, which submits an incident report to council every three months, responded to 3,380 incidents between January and March of 2014, up from 3,265 compared to 2013.
According to the recent report, while building fires were down compared to the same time last year, Burnaby firefighters responded to more false and accidental alarms, motor vehicle incidents and medical emergencies.
Firefighters kicked off 2014 with a bang when they were called to a suspicious fire at the site of the old Globe Foundry on Willard Street in South Burnaby. An early morning blaze nearly destroyed the entire site and left most of the remaining buildings in ruin (council is expected to force the clean up of the foundry at Monday night’s council meeting).
As previously reported in the NOW, the fire began early in the morning and grew so rapidly that residents in the Edmonds area above the site could see smoke billowing from the old foundry.
The number of injuries and smoke exposure was also down this quarter compared to last year. As readers may remember, Burnaby firefighters were called to 3526 Smith Ave. after a blaze broke out in the apartment building on Feb. 17. It took nearly two days for firefighters to put out all the hotspots. The incident resulted in 53 exposures to smoke and one injury.
