Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue Department Tallies up the year of service for 2022

One of the major fires of 2022 for the PRFD was the Belmont Hotel fire in May

The Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue department has provided a snapshot of dollar value of their fire related service calls for 2022.

The short review posted to the PRFD social media page, notes of 2.7 million dollars in fire damage losses in the community in 2022, while the PRFD estimates the the property values saved in in the city was $12.3 million.

The number in fire damage losses is down from the year previous, the City of Prince Rupert Annual report released last summer noted of 5.9 million dollars in fire damage from incidents in 2021.

In addition to their Fire Calls for Service, members of the PRFD make frequent First Responder medical calls, a topic that in July of 2022 became a significant concern for civic officials.  

That situation had the city limiting their participation to only purple or critical calls, owing to a growing volume of those calls backfilling for BC Ambulance that had impacted on the department's fire fighting staffing.

In 2021, the PRFD had been called to over 1500 Emergency situations, the volume of those calls for 2022 has not been noted as of yet by the department.

The protection of Persons and Property element of the City's Audited Financial Statement for 2021, the last year listed, makes for the largest expense for the City.  

The amount of that protection from 2021 is listed as close to thirteen million dollars which includes both RCMP and Fire services. Salaries account for a good share of those expenses from both services.

More notes on the work of Emergency Responders in the Northwest can be reviewed from our archive page.