The Cambridge Fire Department saw a 22 per cent increase in emergency calls for service in 2023 compared to 2022.
At a city council meeting Tuesday, Fire Chief Rob Martin shared the update with councillors.
His report showed there were 9,667 incidents in 2023 – that’s an average of more than 26 calls per day.
There were 98 structure fires reported, which is a five per cent reduction from 2022.
“We also have outdoor fires –about five per cent of the 22 per cent increase came from outdoor fires,” Martin said. “The other percentages would come from rescue calls. We had more river rescue, water rescue type calls, as well as [vehicle collisions] and medicals.”
The report says the total fire loss equalled more than $9.2 million, which represents a very slight increase from the year prior.
In 2023, the fire department had 157 fulltime equivalent positions and had gross operating expenditures of $29,637,000.