Fires continue to make up a small percentage of the calls to which Mapleton Fire Rescue responds.
Call statistics from Sept. 1 to Nov. 29, 2017 indicate the township’s fire department responded to two fire calls during that period, compared to 11 medical calls and 17 motor vehicle collisions.
Firefighters also responded to four false alarms and four other types of calls during the same period.
The figures were provided in a Jan. 23 report to council from Fire Chief Rick Richardson.
Altogether, the department responded to 163 calls in 2017, down slightly from 172 in 2016.
“Our call volumes are in line with previous years,” Richardson reported.
Between Sept. 1 and Nov. 29, firefighters received training on: communications, ropes, ladders, mapping, auto extrication, search and rescue and rapid intervention.
Members of the department also participated in the annual Mapleton Fire Rescue pancake breakfast, which was attended by over 500 members of the public on Oct. 14.
“Public education is a key element of this event,” noted Richardson in the report.
Since the end of November, the report indicates firefighters were involved with Christmas parades in Drayton and Moorefield, a firefighters turkey bingo in Moorefield and the Mapleton Youth Action Council’s Community Christmas Party.
The report indicates average attendance for training (Sept. 1 to Nov. 29) was 94% for the Drayton Station and 91% for the Moorefield Station (the goal is 70%).
“Those attendance figures are impressive,” commented councillor Dennis Craven.
