Oliver Volunteer Fire Department says 2019 was busiest ever

Photo: Oliver Fire Department training photo

The Oliver Volunteer Fire Department is coming off its busiest year ever.

Fire chief Bob Graham was before council Monday for a year-end report, noting 205 calls last year is the department’s most ever. 

A total of 89 were within Oliver town limits, while 81 were in the rural area and 35 on Osoyoos Indian Band land. 

There were 15 structure fires, 18 brush fires, nine vehicle fires, 28 motor vehicle incidents, 18 ambulance assists, 60 miscellaneous and 57 direct alarms. 

Graham said some of those direct alarm calls, where an alarm company directly alerts the fire department of an issue, can be time consuming. 

He asked residents to make sure that they keep their address up to date with the alarm company and be able to contact them to let them know “you only burned the toast.”

“We don’t want our members leaving work unnecessary,” he said. “We have a lot of good employers that allow us to take time off of work in the middle of the day… we don’t want to abuse that privilege.”

He said current protocol sees a single fire department officer attend the alarm calls directly and call off the rest of the department if required. 

Graham highlighted that 28 of 33 of the department’s firefighters are now trained and certified to enter burning buildings. The remainder can support from the exterior.

“Very pleased with the progress that we’ve had. It’s a significant certificate,” he said.

Graham added that he’s also satisfied with response times last year.

“We are not a paid department, we don’t have people sitting in the fire hall waiting for calls, but we respond as quickly as those that do.”