A year of challenges for the Fire Department
Laval, August 12, 2021 — On August 11, the Service de sécurité incendie de Laval filed a report on its 2020 activities, in which there was a 19% decrease in calls and, above all, a 14% decrease in fires. These findings show that despite the pandemic that began in March 2020, the constant efforts and creativity of practices to ensure services to citizens while prioritizing the safety of staff in the field have borne fruit.
“The people of Laval can be proud of their Fire Safety Department. The year covered by this report was one of challenges for firefighters and management. This report demonstrates that the mission of prevention is fulfilled thanks to the imagination and creativity of the head of division and her team. In terms of interventions, the field teams have improved response times, and we can only congratulate them on that. Once again, congratulations to all the staff of the service and management for their outstanding work. »
— Sandra Desmeules, member of the executive committee, responsible for public safety issues and municipal councillor
“The year 2020 will be marked forever in our memories, with the additional challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these, all of the fire department’s resources have maintained at a high level our mission to protect the lives and property of the population as well as the City’s infrastructure. »
— Patrick Taillefer, Director of the Fire Department
Prevention: a priority
The year 2020 was marked by the temporary cessation of on-site inspections. From March to September, the Prevention Division team chose to modify its practices in order to carry out the follow-ups required to ensure the safety of citizens. It was therefore by making telephone calls that the re-inspections were carried out. Awareness-raising and education work with daycares, schools and seniors’ residences, among others, has continued with some technological transformations to reach all audiences. Since September, inspectors have resumed face-to-face visits, while respecting public health guidelines.
Strike force never known to date
The strike force consists of 10 firefighters arriving in 10 minutes at the scene of a medium- and low-risk building fire (within the urban perimeter), with an additional 5 firefighters within the next 5 minutes for high- and very high-risk buildings (within the urban perimeter). In 2020, 96% of the response time was obtained, which is a significant overshoot of the initial target: in the revised fire risk coverage scheme, it was 90%.
Interventions of all kinds
In addition to fighting the flames, firefighters responded to a multitude of other situations, including:
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
• Dumping of hazardous materials;
• Road accident and release from custody;
• Flooding;
• Ice rescue and nautical rescue;
• Gas leakage;
• Civil protection disaster.
Some highlights
• 1,321 fewer calls than in 2019, for a total of 5,752 calls.
• 38 fewer building fires than in 2019, a decrease of 14%.
•490 fewer responses for unfounded alarms, a decrease of 20%.
Between1 May and 31 October, firefighters carried out 14,400 home prevention visits to residences in Laval; this represents approximately 400 addresses per team (group or fire station). This prevention work has made it possible to achieve 99% of the initial objective of the revised fire risk coverage scheme 2015-2019.
