Port Moody Fire Rescue (PMFR) had a busy 2023.
Firefighters responded to 1,756 incidents last year, an 11 per cent increase from 2022 according to the department’s annual community report that is to be presented to council on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Of those, 1,128 were responses to medical calls — 18 of which provided critical lifesaving interventions. Another 510 were for alarms and 98 were to attend at motor vehicle incidents. The department also provided general assistance at 98 calls and 88 were for possible fires with smoke showing.
The busiest month was August, and the most common day for call-outs was Wednesday.
Port Moody Fire Chief Darcey O’Riordan said the department also deployed three crews to help with wildfires in the Okanagan.
To help cope with the growing workload, PMFR was able to add six new recruits last fall. After nine weeks of training, they’ve now been assigned to the city’s two firehalls and are on shift.
The new hires bring the department’s contingent of professional firefighters to 50, along with three chief officers and one administrative assistant. The city also has 20 volunteer firefighters.
The recruits will provide some relief from the $500,000 the department spent on overtime in 2022 as well as reduce the physical and mental toll those extra hours were exacting on its existing firefighters.
“They are exposed to more critical incidents and occupational stress when they work longer shifts,” O’Riordan told the Tri-City News last June.
Away from the firehalls, Port Moody’s firefighters conducted 983 inspections and 95 public education events. They also put in 2,450 hours to support local charities and raised $135,000.
In January, the department received approval from Port Moody council’s finance committee to donate two recently decommissioned trucks to smaller communities in B.C.
A 1999 LaFance pumper truck will got to Loon Lake and a 1997 Freightliner rescue truck will help the volunteer fire department in Lytton Village.
PMFR’s more than $10 million operating budget last year accounted for 19 per cent of property taxes collected by the city to pay for services, equalling about $533 for the average household.
