Nick Ruller, Niagara-on-the-Lake fire chief. - Torstar file photo
Niagara-on-the-Lake Fire and Emergency Services has a fire incidents map on the town website available for public viewing.
Launched in October, the map is updated monthly to show the volume of calls fire services responded to, where incidents occurred, and the type of calls received. A legend provides a call breakdown, indicating fire, fire alarms, gas and carbon monoxide, medical calls and collisions. The symbols are placed on the map to show what area the calls came from.
Fire Chief Nick Ruller said the map coincides with a new database the department began to use this year.
A pie chart shows the percentage of each call type for the month. For example, in October, 26 per cent of calls fire services responded to were medical, 24 per cent were fire alarms, 22 per cent were collisions, 12 per cent were assistance calls, gas and carbon monoxide was only 10 per cent of calls, and fire calls were only six per cent.
"What it came down to is we found ourselves needing to take some of our data and put it in a format that allowed us to make more effective decisions," said Ruller. "We realized there was probably an opportunity to expand and offer some of the information to some of the other stakeholders."
The fire department uses a data dashboard that breaks calls down more extensively than what is seen on the public fire map. Ruller said he can analyze the data he receives to 35 or more call types. The intent with the online fire map was to create a cleaner, simpler layer for public viewing that doesn't disclose any confidential information, such as who may have been involved in an incident.
Ruller said the department has been pushing out infographics on their social media accounts for quite a while and report fire department statistics quarterly to NOTL council, but also received direction from council that there'd be value to sharing some of the data more broadly.
"Residents have an interest, they hear things going on in the public, there is a desire in today's day and age to have access to information," said Ruller. "From our perspective we're a public service, the public service is funded through taxes and in turn we want to ensure the public have an awareness of where those resources are going.
"It's not uncommon to drive past the fire station and see the trucks there, doors down and everything's quiet," he added. "The reality is our organization is experiencing increase in call volumes and demand for service, and part of that is we just want to ensure that we are able to reflect that in a platform that allows the public to see the various services that are offered and the frequency of some of those services."
Ruller explained the October data is nothing out of the ordinary, adding that in summer months — June to September — there will be increase of calls due to tourism.
Link to original article on wellandtribune.ca: NOTL fire service launches incidents map