The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen in statistics from the Cobourg Fire Department, Councillor Aaron Burchat said at Monday's council meeting.
A decrease in incidents is one example, Burchat said. The 2020 year-to-date statistics show 1,230 incidents, compared to 1,359 recorded at the same time last year.
Training activities are also down, he added. The 2020 year-to-date figure is 310, compared to 353 at this time last year.
“Obviously, due to the pandemic, training activities become a little harder,” Burchat allowed.
On the other hand, the department reports 444 prevention activities for the year to date, compared to 278 at this time last year.
“Of course, fire prevention has been more of a focus during these times,” the councillor said.