Fire Services

Wetaskiwin Fire Services protects the community by providing emergency response services to residents within the City limits and approximately 3,000 people in County of Wetaskiwin’s Zone Two fire protection area.

E-911 service is provided to residents through a contract with City of Red Deer Dispatch Services and Telus Communications. The E-911 centre takes the calls and relays them directly to the fire department via two-way radio system.

The fire department is currently composed of a full-time Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief, two full-time firefighters, and paid-on-call firefighters.

Calls

Firefighters responded to 574 calls in 2023. The types of calls the department attends include:

Structure fires
Motor vehicle collisions
Vehicle fires
Hazardous material spills
Grass and brush fires
Smoke investigations
Medical/RCMP assists
Dumpster fires
Alarms ringing
Miscellaneous public support calls
Mutual aid
Ice rescue
Down powerlines

When firefighters are paged, they rally to their assigned fire station, gear up, and jump on the trucks. The fire department tries to maintain a response time of less than 10 minutes within City limits.

FOR EMERGENCIES, PLEASE DIAL 911

Useful fire info

False or unwanted alarms

Did you know that about 90 per cent of the alarm calls to which the Wetaskiwin Fire Services responds turn out to be false alarms? The majority of false alarms can be attributed to one of the following causes:

System malfunction
Construction or renovation work
System testing
Water leak impacting the alarm system
Operator error
Cooking
Steam (do not install a smoke alarm directly outside a bathroom)
Dust on a smoke alarm (often caused by contractors working on site)
Smoking in the home (near a detector)

Although smoke alarms in single family homes are not required to be monitored under the Alberta Fire Code, many homeowners choose to have a monitored fire alarm. If this applies to you, ensure that your monitoring company is instructed to attempt to contact you or a designated person at your home, or a trusted neighbour, in order to verify a fire condition or confirm the fire alarm is a false, or “unwanted” alarm.

These unwanted alarms create a burden for the Fire Services, preventing the department from being available to respond to a true emergency. Furthermore, homeowners can be billed under the provisions of the City of Wetaskiwin Fire Bylaw No. 2057-24 for false alarms, with escalating fines depending on alarm frequencies per calendar year to a given address. If the monitoring company cannot reach a contact person, fire crews will be dispatched.

Fire lanes

Fire lanes are in place to provide access to firefighting apparatus and personnel, EMS, and law enforcement in the event of an emergency situation. Fire lanes provide unobstructed access to the fire department connections, which are located on the exterior of the building. These connections are for the sole purpose of providing the fire department the ability to connect supply hoses to the building to support the sprinkler and stand pipe systems.

Are fire lanes marked? Yes. On the exterior of the building or near the curb side. Signage is made visible to indicate the presence of a fire lane and that parking is not allowed.

Is there a fine for parking in a fire lane? Yes. Under municipal bylaw, the fine for parking in a fire lane is $300.

Who can issue these violations? Any member of the RCMP, Alberta Sheriffs, Community Peace Officers, Municipal Bylaw Officers, and Fire Services who carry bylaw authorities.

Fire pits

Under the Fire Services Bylaw, you are not required to have a permit for use of a back yard fire pit. As long as your pit adheres to the bylaw, you can use it without a formal inspection or permit needed.

Fire Prevention

Fire prevention activities include school tours of the fire station and presentations at local schools. Company inspections are conducted upon request. Annual inspections are completed for high risk buildings. Safety codes inspections are also conducted upon complaint or request, to ensure compliance with the Alberta Fire Code.

For information on fire safety, please contact us at 780.361.4429.

Firefighter training

Training sessions are conducted every Thursday night to keep up skill levels. Formal training is conducted within the department through online courses and practical skill training (with certification through the Office of the Fire Commissioner). Accredited courses are also held in the City or in surrounding municipalities.

In January 2024, City Council approved a new Fire Services Master Plan. The master plan is intended to establish a long-term operational strategy for delivering fire protection services within the City of Wetaskiwin. The master plan will be used as a tool to evaluate and forecast the community's immediate and long-term emergency services needs and enhance future requests around capital, technology upgrades, and service levels.

Click HERE to read the plan.

Wetaskiwin Fire Services
Station #1
5940 40 Avenue
Wetaskiwin, Alberta
Phone: 780.361.4429
Email: amber.coleman@wetaskiwin.ca

Hours
Monday to Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.