Firefighters responded to 268 calls for service in 2023 and 256 calls in 2022. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

annual stats

Fire Dept calls double in 7 years, needle pickup is 14% of calls

Jan 3, 2025 | 4:21 PM

The number of fire calls in the tri-communities have doubled since 2017.

That’s according to data released this week from the La Ronge Regional Fire Department, which states there were 301 fire calls in 2024 compared to approximately 150 in 2017. In 2014, that number was just over 100 calls.

Fire Chief Keaton Cloud believes the rise in fire calls has to do with multiple factors.

“We’ve seen year-over-year fires being started intentionally,” he said.

“I believe that there is also a correlation between high crime rates in the area, and people installing alarm systems. The more people that install these systems, the higher probability of people accidentally setting off smoke detectors connected to a monitoring station, which in turn notifies the 911 dispatch center.”

YEAR IN REVIEW

Carla Beck wraps up year with plan for next election

Dec 31, 2024

Year In Review

A look back at the tri-community's Top 10 stories of 2024

Dec 31, 2024

HROMEK RESIGNS

Jon Hromek steps down as Sask. United Party Leader

Dec 31, 2024

In 2024, firefighters also disposed of 867 needles which represents a rise of 61 per cent compared to 2023. Cloud explained people with addictions are using needles and improperly disposing them, often just leaving them wherever they are using. He noted other jurisdictions are also seeing the same rise in needle disposals.

“Unfortunately, the fire department isn’t capable of providing a solution as this is more of a social and health issue,” Cloud added.

“Our primary focus is to remove sharps so the general public is safe. There are disposal bins located in strategic areas, such as the one located next to the former scattered sites, however, we found that people were still not using these.”

Needles account for roughly 14 per cent of the calls in 2024 and it isn’t uncommon for firefighters to pick up 50 needles per callout.

In addition, the number of false alarms lead statistics at 81 for the 2024, followed by bush and grass fires at 53. Other stats for fire calls included structure fires, cooking fires, rescues and more.

Firefighters also clocked in 1,686 hours of training, 49 hours of visibility patrols and attended 23 community events in 2024. Training occurs on nearly a weekly basis.

“Various training is happening for our firefighters which includes, bi-weekly practice nights, bi-weekly certification training nights for new hires, specialty training such as advanced forcible entry and Hazmat training, and training conferences,” Cloud mentioned.

There are currently 25 firefighters out of a full staff of 30 with new hires expected in January.

–

derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com