Fewer fires, more calls of other varieties.
That was 2010-11 for the Humboldt Fire Department (HFD).
Between November 1, 2010 and October 31, 2011, the 25 members of the HFD were called to 69 emergencies (up from 58 in 2009-10), including the scene of a carbon monoxide leak at the local nursing home, several vehicle crashes, and even a small plane crash. But fires were few and far between.
"I think we're going to get more strange calls as time goes by," said Humboldt Fire Chief Norbert LeBlanc on November 2. "It used to just be fire. Now (it's) stuff that's totally different."
That's affecting their call volume, and their training.
But this is where having a volunteer fire department comes in handy - their firefighters are usually specialists in other fields, like mechanics or farm implements.
"We have people from all lines of work. They can help us with this stuff," LeBlanc noted. "It really helps when you're going to a call."
In the past year, the HFD responded to a total of 25 calls in the RM of Humboldt.
Fourteen of those calls were to motor vehicle collisions, two were farm equipment fires, four were grass fires, and four were structure fires.
Most of those fires were small ones, LeBlanc indicated. One was in a grain dryer, another was smoke reported in a house in Fulda just recently. Another was in a bathroom in a cabin at Waldsea Lake last December.
The only house fire was when the HFD assisted the Bruno Fire Department at a home near Peterson last year.
Of the motor vehicle crashes, two involved fatalities.
The first occurred just after 8 p.m. on November 8, when rain was falling in the region.
Two vehicles - an older model station wagon and a four-door sedan - were involved in a head-on collision just west of a construction zone on Hwy. 5, about 13 kilometres west of Humboldt.
Early reports to RCMP stated that the station wagon was eastbound on Hwy. 5, and the sedan was westbound and attempting to pass a tractor trailer unit when the collision occurred.
The drivers - a 29-year-old female from Bruno in the station wagon and a 58-year-old man from the Saskatoon area - were both the only occupants of their vehicles.
The impact of the crash left the two vehicles at least a quarter of a mile apart - the sedan to the west and the station wagon to the east.
The sedan ended up in a shallow slough on the south side of the road, with the driver sitting in about a metre of water.
An extensive extrication of the driver of the sedan had to occur, complicated by the water.
The station wagon also ended up in the south ditch, but not in any water. But that extrication was also tricky, as the roof of the vehicle had caved in a bit from the impact.
Both drivers were transported to hospital. The male driver succumbed to his injuries and died.
The second fatal crash occurred on July 20, when a vehicle driven by a 61-year-old man from Regina crashed head-on into a semi-trailer unit on Hwy. 5 about two kilometres east of Muenster.
The semi trailer unit was not hauling cargo at the time, and ran off the road after impact.
The car remained on the highway, on its wheels.
The driver and lone occupant of the car was declared dead at the scene.
Weather conditions were overcast at the time and road conditions were good.
The HFD's most unusual call in the RM, LeBlanc said, was the rescue they were called to perform at Harmon Eggs, about four miles north of Humboldt.
A man working at the business got his arm stuck in a machine on August 10. Unable to pull free and working alone, the man was stuck with his hand in the machine for about two hours.
He finally pulled the alarm system off the wall and when someone came in to find out what was going on, they found him with his hand stuck.
Fire crews took the machine apart and freed him. He was then taken by ambulance to the hospital with minor injuries.
Within the City of Humboldt, the HFD responded to 44 calls for service in the past year.
Four were to motor vehicle collisions inside the city, and four were to vehicle fires. There were two reports of natural gas leaks where firefighters attended, one call to standby to assist RCMP, two small grass fires, two mock collisions staged as part of the Preventing Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth (PARTY) program, and just two structure fires.
Those two structure fires were reported on July 1, when a fuse blew on a power pole at Peck Road and 5th Ave., and sparks started a fire at the base of the pole. The Tim Hortons restaurant in Humboldt then reported the smell of burned wires, and investigation revealed a power issue had damaged one of their drink machines.
Nine calls of carbon monoxide in buildings were also received by the HFD in 2010-11, the most serious being the report of carbon monoxide poisoning at St. Mary's Villa (SMV) in Humboldt on December 26.
In the early hours of December 26, 40 residents of SMV were evacuated after carbon monoxide from a failed boiler got into the heating vents. Members of the HFD assisted in that evacuation.
The Boxing Day emergency resulted in 24 Villa residents, five employees, and two visiting family members undergoing assessment and treatment for exposure to the colourless, odorless gas.
It also resulted in the deaths of three Villa residents - an 89-year-old male resident, and two female residents, aged 94 and 98 - between December 26 and January 26.
The HFD was also called to one plane crash in the past year.
At approximately 4:50 p.m. on April 3, a small Cessna 172 airplane flown by a 27-year-old man from Calgary, Alberta crashed off the end of the runway at Humboldt Municipal Airport, located south of the city.
The pilot had been attempting to land, but came in too fast, and was unable to stop before the end of the runway,
The plane went off the end of the paved runway, then hit a heavy build-up of snow and flipped forward. The plane rolled over on its nose and landed upside down on the snow.
The pilot - the lone occupant of the plane - was able to crawl out of the plane uninjured.
The plane suffered some damage, including a bent wing.
LeBlanc was called to and attended the scene of the crash, but when no extrication of the victim was required, the call for other members of the HFD was cancelled.
There were 18 false alarms called in to the HFD in Humboldt in the past year, up from 15 the year before.
"We've had a lot of false alarms because everyone has an alarm in their house now," said LeBlanc.
Often, those who have alarms installed in their homes are not educated as to how to properly turn them off, LeBlanc said, and so the fire department gets dispatched.
"Usually, it's someone burning food," LeBlanc said of the false alarms. "They think they've turned the alarm off, but it goes through."
Some of the false alarms have been people testing their new systems, LeBlanc said. They press a button to see if it works, and end up with the fire department and ambulance on their doorstep.
If you wish to test your new system, call the fire chief first, he advised, so they won't dispatch the entire fire department.
