- In 2018 about 11% of all 224 emergency calls to BFES were for actual fire incidents in our district
- Approximately 63% of emergency calls to 911 are made on cellular phones
- All 911 calls are answered at a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP); these are located in Sydney, Truro, Halifax, and Kentville
- PSAP operators ask callers to confirm the address from which they are calling and then determine what service(s) are required to respond: police, fire or ambulance
- Some incidents require all three first responder services; the PSAP operator will determine this from questioning the caller
- The operator may seem to keep the caller for an unreasonable time, but it is essential to get full information to ensure the proper response is sent to the right location
- The PSAP operator connects the caller to the appropriate dispatcher who may ask many of the same questions confirming location and incident details
- A wide range of incidents create requests for fire services ranging from smoke alarms sounding, to chimney fires, to power lines down or arcing, to motor vehicle fires or collisions, to fully involved structures.
- For smoke alarms sounding, the fire dispatcher will often call the Fire Chief to respond directly to the address to determine what is causing the alarm
- For chimney fires and live wires the dispatcher will notify the BFES to respond
- For motor vehicle collisions the dispatcher with notify the BFES to respond and will ensure that police and ambulance are responding if required
- For a structure fire the dispatcher will immediately dispatch BFES and automatically request mutual aid assistance from Hilden, Stewiacke, Upper Stewiacke, and Cobequid Fire with tankers, pumpers or personnel as required
- Virtually all BFES members are trained as Level 1 Fire Fighters; many are trained in Incident Command, Fire Investigation, Vehicle Extrication, and Ice/water Rescue
- Training is provided at no cost to members either in-house, through the Colchester Fire Fighters Association or by the Nova Scotia Fire School
- Members are equipped with full protective turn-out clothing, helmets, gloves and boots