The Sechelt volunteer fire department was busy on July 25 with five calls for service in one day, two of which were at the same time.
"We don't get any calls for a week and then two at the same time. That's the nature of the beast in our business," Sechelt fire Chief Bill Higgs said, adding the dry weather can result in multiple fire calls, while storms can result in multiple accidents that need the department's assistance.
Two simultaneous calls for service came last Thursday around 3 p.m.
"There was a house that had a lot of smoke in it and then a near drowning down in Davis Bay that we had to go and help out with at the same time, so we had 20 of our guys out," Higgs said. "We responded four apparatus to the house fire and then we released the ladder truck to go help out with the medical call."
Once crews arrived at the suspected house fire in West Sechelt on Mills Road, they cleared the smoke and found things weren't as serious as suspected.
"It was an electrical overload in a furnace motor that re-circulates the air. Because of the hot weather it had a problem and started to melt down and blew smoke all through their house, and of course, the owners thought their house was on fire and rightfully so," Higgs said. "Then while we were there trying to sort that out and find out what was going on with all the smoke in the house, this other call came in."
The call was for assistance with a near drowning, so one crew raced to the scene in Davis Bay where members helped a man get from the beach to an awaiting ambulance.
"It was kind of one of those close calls," Higgs said, noting the man is now doing well.
The same day firefighters responded to a low-speed car crash and a couple of false alarms, but each call out took volunteer firefighters away from their jobs and each call was taken seriously until proven otherwise.
"It was a very busy day for our guys," Higgs said.
