Firefighters are seen battling a large residential fire in the 600 block of Industrial Avenue on July 2. No injuries were reported from the fire that caused extensive damage to one multi-residential home and the belongings inside.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
An uptick in calls for service for the Medicine Hat Fire Service in July follows a year over year trend.
The Medicine Hat Fire Service responded to 234 incidents in July, the highest total calls in one month this year. The total has risen throughout the year, but it’s a not-unusual trend according to deputy chief Douglas Gill.
He says there is a typical rise throughout most years as the weather gets nicer and more residents are out and about.
“Typically in the summer months, because there’s a lot of traffic on the roads with holidays and that kind of thing, we do tend to see an increase in motor vehicle accidents in the summer as opposed to the spring and in the fall,” Gill said. “So the winter and summer would be very high months for motor vehicle collisions.”
Gill says they’ve seen a decrease in outside fires this summer due to the rainfall Medicine Hat has seen fall this summer. But with that extra rain comes more storms, leading to more calls for lightning strikes or downed power lines, all part of the ebbs and flows they track year over year when it comes to service calls.
Gill says they’ve also seen an increase in overdue and cardiac related emergencies, another type of call tending to be more frequent in certain months compared to others.
Through seven months of 2025, Medicine Hat Fire Service has had 1,484 emergency calls, broken down into two categories, red and green. Red calls require lights and sirens and are emergent, while green calls are stuff like a resident’s smoke detector going off, or AHS calling for a medical lift assist.
Of the 1,484 emergency calls so far, 923 of them have been red responses and the other 561 have been green. Gill says they’re averaging the same number of emergent calls they had in 2024, when there were 2,464 calls through 12 months.
Looking back at the year and the types of calls they’ve received, there’s no glaring issue arising according to Gill. He says the one reoccurring concern has been the lack of working smoke alarms in homes.
“That is literally going to be the thing that’s going to save your life in the middle of night,” Gill said.
He says they recently followed up in a community after a house fire, part of their ‘After the Fire’ program, speaking to surrounding neighbours about fire safety, education and answering any questions they may have.
Gill was surprised at the number of residents who did not have working smoke alarms and says they installed a number of alarms in homes.
“As much as we try and promote that message sometimes it doesn’t get out there,” Gill said. “Working smoke alarms, working carbon monoxide alarms in your home are truly going to be a lifesaver and a game changer.”
