The Okotoks Fire Department has had some help from the nicer than usual weather to start the first quarter of the 2016 fire report.

Fire Chief Ken Thevenot says when the temperatures are on the plus side, it makes the number of calls in winter drop significantly.

"It's nice we haven't had a lot of weather-related incidents so far this year so that helps in the number of responses we get in motor vehicle collisions," he says.

This week was a little too quiet for the department only having to respond to 12 calls, but Thevenot says when his team deals with weeks like that, it goes a long way.

"To start out the year it has been slow start which is a good thing in our prevention activities," he says.

Whether the department is busy or not, training is constant for local firefighters and Thevenot says each member was kept on their toes with numerous methods and types of fire and rescue training.

"In the fourth quarter in 2015 we completed 1,905 hours of training and in total for 2015 we completed 5,034 hours of training with all of members," he says.

"Dividing that up on average is 114 hours per member."

In total for the month of January the department has responded to 57 calls, down from 72 at this point last year.

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