The Okotoks Fire Department were kept busy with 22 calls last week including a handful of fire responses.

Deputy Fire Chief Dwight Seymour says there was seven fires, one in particular that could have been have been worse if crews didn't respond quickly.

"One was a deck fire on the back of a house, one was a grass fire that ended up burning some small out buildings and five of them were pasture land fires," he says.

He says it was a long week for the department when it came to responses on local highways.

"It was a bad week for motor vehicle collisions with four, we had six medical responses, four alarm activations and we had also dealt with one chemical spill call."

Crews were able to put out the deck fire in town quickly but Seymour says with the weather warming up, residents should put out their smoking material safely when enjoying the deck life.

"Dispose of your smoking properly be it in a tin can with some sand in the bottom so it can't spread or ignite anything else. Don't put it into a flower pot, flower pots can have a bit of compost in it along with dry leaves and people don't realize it can start a fire very quickly and spread to the deck."

No one was harmed in the deck fire.

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