'The stuff you see on a daily basis, it's not normal': A night inside Vancouver's busiest fire hall
This is the final story in a three-part series following Vancouver’s police, paramedics, and firefighters.
Fire Hall No. 2 on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is the busiest in the city, and arguably the busiest in Canada. And the number of calls for help keeps rising.
In December, the hall saw 1,600 calls for service – 600 more than the average for the second-busiest hall and about 1,100 more than the city's other stations.
Lt. Dale Maffie has been a firefighter for 18 years, and currently serves as an officer on the Hall No. 2 medic truck. He said because of the intensity of the job, firefighters can only be stationed at the hall for about a year, before moving to another location.
“Anywhere from eight to 10 months in, you start getting pretty jaded,” he said.
“The stuff you see on a daily basis… it’s not normal, so our brains have a hard time coping with what’s going on sometimes.”
CTV News spent a night alongside firefighters from the city's busiest station.
The first call was a tripped smoke alarm. Within seconds, the crew of four was loaded into the rig, driving with lights and sirens blaring to a nearby single-room occupancy building. It only took a few minutes to determine the scene was safe, someone had been smoking in a hallway.
Due to its location, the hall responds to a high number of overdoses, with these calls representing 22 per cent of all medical incidents.
CTV News was taken to two calls on the night of the ride-along, both inside SRO buildings.
The first call was canceled once crews arrived because paramedics had already arrived. The second involved a 30-year-old man on methadone, a powerful opioid, he said he was feeling extreme body chills and pain.
When crews arrived he was alert but agitated. This particular building was “one of the nicer ones” according to crew members, though inside the unit there were still bed bugs and cockroaches. Through his mask one of the medics began to smell something burning. The man had been cooking a pizza before he collapsed.
It wasn’t long before paramedics arrived and the man was taken in an ambulance to St. Pauls Hospital.
There was also a small fire that had started across the road, someone was burning something in an alley. It was easy for crews to extinguish this one but other outdoor fires have been a growing problem.
These types of fires in 2022 increased five per cent from 2021, but are up 78 per cent from 2019. The biggest concern with outdoor fires is they can quickly spread to buildings and that there's a danger smoke alarms on the inside won’t be activated until it’s too late.
Firefighters are also sounding the alarm about a worker shortage. The union says 55 more firefighters are needed to serve the city safely.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Another suspect arrested in Toronto Pearson airport gold heist: police
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Poilievre-led government 'would never' use notwithstanding clause on abortion, his office says
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
Why these immigrants to Canada say they're thinking about leaving, or have already moved on
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Miss Teen USA steps down just days after Miss USA's resignation
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
Cyclist strikes child crossing the street to catch school bus in Montreal
A video circulating on social media of a young girl being hit by a bike has some calling for better safety and more caution when designing bike lanes in the city. The video shows a four-year-old girl crossing Jeanne-Mance Street in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood to get on a school bus stopped on the opposite side of the street
BREAKING Critical injuries to 7 people in Sharbot Lake, Ont. crash
Ontario Provincial Police say seven people have suffered severe injuries in a single-vehicle crash in Sharbot Lake, Ont.
Barron Trump selected to be a Florida delegate at Republican National Convention
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, was selected by the Florida GOP as an at-large delegate for Florida at the Republican National Convention, according to a list of delegates obtained by CNN.