HUMBOLDT — Humboldt Fire had an average year for calls with a slight rise in both motor vehicle collisions (MVC) and emergency medical service (EMS) assists, resulting in 106 calls for service, ten more than 2020.
“Motor vehicle collisions were definitely a highlight of the year,” said Mike Kwasnica, the department’s chief. “We’re above the three, five and 10 year average by a little bit.”
Motor vehicle collisions, also involving snowmobile and ATVs, accounted for 26 calls in 2021, an increase from 20 in 2020 and sits slightly above the ten year and three year average at 21 calls.
Kwasnica said there has been observed an increase in traffic around the area which may result in increased numbers.
“With the economic development happening in our area we’re going to see more people coming into our area, more traffic coming through, and with that possibly an increase in motor vehicle accidents.”
For specific causes, Kwasnica said they’ve been seeing a mixture, including road conditions and distracted drivers.
The fire chief continues to advise the community to keep their cell phones off when operating a motor vehicle, focus on the road, check the road conditions before leaving, and ensure the vehicle is in good shape when heading out on challenging road conditions.
Emergency medical service (EMS) assists were also higher than average, which accounted for 10 calls, a rise from four in 2020 as well as the 10 year average at five.
For EMS assists, fire department first responders are sent when the Humboldt Ambulance is overwhelmed or may require their equipment. Kwasnica said in some cases EMS needs a forcible entry to get into a person’s home for a medical assist or the fire department is used as a third ambulance as required.
“I know their call volume has gone up considerably, so with the fact that their call volume has gone up considerably you can start to see our call volume start to rise as well.”
Fire alarm responses have been in a decline for the past number of years, from 43 in 2016, down to 30 in 2017, up briefly to 34 in 2018, before falling again to 30 in 2019, 28 in 2020, and 27 in 2022.
Kwasnica attributes this to a proactive approach to fire inspections in the community. Commercial fire alarm systems are required to be tested annually.
“With the fire inspections we’re doing we’re making sure fire alarms are being tested annually, that any issues that we have with any of our fire alarms are being addressed, and if we have repeat offenders that we find out what the reasons are and try to get a fire alarm technician to come out and fix the problem.”
For residential fire alarms, he advises keeping track of its password so that if a false alarm occurs and the alarm company calls the resident will be able to explain it’s a false alarm.
“If you forget your password or you bought a residence, and I know that’s happened where you buy a new house and it comes with a fire alarm system, they sometimes don’t know their password or the code that came with the house.”
Type of call (2021)
- Structure fire- 2
- Vehicle fire- 3
- Nuisance Fires- 5
- Stubble/Grass fire- 5
- HazMat- 0
- Carbon monoxide alarm- 4
- MVC/ Snowmobile/ ATV- 26
- Fire Alarms Response- 27
- Natural Gas Leak- 2
- Electrical Hazards-Powerline etc- 5
- Farm Equipment fires- 0
- Farm Extrication- 0
- EMS Assist- 10
- STARS Landing- 6
- Other- 9
- Mutual Aid- 2
- Total calls - 106
