Image from the City of Owen Sound
There was little change in annual call volume for the Owen Sound Fire Department in 2025.
The city’s Fire Prevention Officer Greg Nicol shared statistics from the department’s annual report to the corporate services committee recently, saying there were 1,069 calls for service last year.
That number is slightly lower than 2024, when firefighters had 1,095 calls for service.
Nicol says 42 per cent of all calls were medical related.
“Very similar percentage to 2024,” Owen Sound’s Fire Prevention Officer explains. “And also interesting to note … we respond to about seven per cent of all Grey County EMS calls. We don’t respond to them all. We respond to a very small amount, depending on our agreement and when they require our assistance.”
In all, there were 25 fire calls in 2025.
He also mentions the highest volume day for Owen Sound firefighters consisted of 11 calls for service in 24 hours. The busiest time of day for calls to the fire department is between 11 a.m. and noon.
And, just ten addresses accounted for about 14 per cent of all Owen Sound fire department calls for service last year.
“Those can depend on that building, and various calls within that building. It’s not just certain calls at a building and certain types,” Nicol says.
City firefighters also completed more than 1,400 inspections in 2025, and spoke to more than 3,100 people about fire and life safety in visits to places like schools, care facilities and private residences.