The fire departments in Courtenay have been slightly less busy compared to last year based on the number of calls received.
A report was released ahead of the July 31 council meeting detailing non-emergency calls are up and emergency calls are down in the first half of the year.
From January 1 to June 30, 318 non-emergency calls have been made in 2024 compared to 244 in 2023, a 74-call increase.
Emergency calls have trended downward in the first half of the year, with 374 in 2024 in comparison to 452 in 2023, a 78-call decrease.
Open burning calls (202) were the most responded to incidents followed by alarm activated calls (161), motor vehicle incidents (84), and ambulance assists (69).
Open burning issues and public service requests saw the largest increase from 2023, while ambulance assists and garbage container fires saw the biggest decrease.
Emergency responses were down due to changes in procedures for open burning calls and ambulance assists, with those calls now handled by weekday staff and weekend coverage shift staffed by volunteer members.
