fire deptCalls to North Bay Fire and Emergency Services in 2015 were pretty much on par with the year before.

There were just over 1,500 calls to the fire department in each of the past two years.

But Fire Chief Grant Love says they’re down from previous years.

Meantime, there were 47 structure fire calls last year with damages around $2.7 million.

That compares to 39 structure fires in 2014, with damages just over a million dollars.

Love says something that has to be taken into account is the fact that one significant incident can drive up the number.

Meantime, a person who was pulled from a fire at a cottage unit on Lakeshore with serious injuries last year passed away.

Love says they won’t know if it’s considered a fire death until official word comes back from the Fire Marshal.

Also of note, the 24 hour shifts began for city fire crews in early January.

Love says the pilot is going well, pointing out they’ve seen an increase in training time because they have more consecutive hours available for training.