Blake Ellis/The Independent

The Petrolia and North Enniskillen Fire Department had fewer fire calls in 2025 than it did in 2024. 

In a presentation to Enniskillen Township Council on Monday, Fire Chief Rick Cousins said there was a total of 138 calls for service – a decrease from the 2024 numbers when the department responded to 168 calls. 

Out of those calls, there were 108 calls for Petrolia, 27 calls for Enniskillen and three calls for mutual aid.

Cousins said the call volumes of 2024 were the highest the department has experienced in a 10-year span. So far this year, there have been 52 calls for service. The fire chief said not all of these calls have been for fires. The department gets calls for medical assists, vehicle accidents or simply fire alarms.  

The Town of Petrolia take on 60 percent of the cost of the fire department while Enniskillen Township is responsible for 40 percent of the costs. Enniskillen council has questioned why it pays 40 percent of the department’s calls when it appears it has only 25 to 30 per cent of the calls.

At a February Enniskillen council meeting, Cousins had responded to the same concern saying it takes four times longer to deal with a fire in the township compared to one in Petrolia. 

A barn fire can take 10 to 12 hours to extinguish compared to three to four hours for a house fire. 

Of the 138 calls in 2025, only seven were for fires – six fire calls in Petrolia and one in Enniskillen. 

Deputy Mayor Judy Krall wanted to know how the department is doing meeting the new training standards set by the province. 

Cousin’s statistics show training has ramped up. In 2025, there were 2,059 total hours for training, compared to 1,120 in 2024 and 1,328 in 2023. 

Cousin says the department is on track to meeting its certification needs.

There is a downside to the training. The cost of training has increased. To run a course, they need 12 people participating. The Office of the Fire Marshall has set that limit at 12. Cousins says fire departments have been pushing to have that lowered so smaller classes can be held. 

There have been a couple courses have been cancelled at the regional training centre at Lambton College because they just haven’t had enough people to hold the course. 

So the Petrolia and North Enniskillen Fire Department had to go elsewhere for courses to make sure members were certified without waiting until another course locally was available.

The fire chief expects the training hours to stay at its current levels into the future.