If a controlled fire begins to burn out of control, the logical move would be to call 911. But, the Chief of the Hanover Fire Department says unfortunately, there are too many people that shy away from calling for assistance, for fear of getting billed.

Paul Wiebe stresses you will not be billed. He says when you call 911 and the fire department is dispatched, there is no charge to the ratepayer for that call.

"Those costs are all covered under your municipal taxes," says Wiebe. "They are not billed in any way."

He notes the only way there could be a bill involved is if it is a larger fire and the department needs to bring in additional equipment such as a backhoe in order to dismantle a building to stop the fire from spreading. But in that case, Wiebe says it is the resident's insurance company that would be billed. Or, if someone starts a fire when there is a fire ban in place, Wiebe says that person could be subject to a fine.

"We've had a lot of inquiries in the very recent past as to what the charges are, when we've gone on calls," says Wiebe. "So I know there is still a lot of uncertainty out there."

Wiebe notes there have been residents who have called firefighters directly before dialling 911, in order to find out how much they will be charged. He says this just eats up valuable time that the department could be using for battling the fire.

On the flip side, Wiebe says some people might be calling 911 just a little too soon. He notes they still get many calls from people reporting a vehicle in distress on the side of the road, which ends up just being someone parked on the shoulder to talk on the phone.

"If possible, if you could just take a minute to check it out, see if emergency crews are really necessary," suggests Wiebe.

Meanwhile, he says their firefighters were called six times this winter to a false alarm at the lumber business in Blumenort. He notes there is a kiln on site for drying wood. Wiebe says this is in no way any fault to that business, but unfortunately motorists drive by and think the steam coming from that building is actually smoke.

"Of course anytime we get dispatched we will go check it out," he says. "But in every case it wasn't a fire, it was just steam coming from that building."

Wiebe says even though this is only a problem during the winter months, this business has opted to take steps to reduce the number of false alarms. First of all, it changed the colour of their light inside the kiln, to make the steam look less like smoke. They are also looking to erect a sign along the highway to alert motorists that what they are seeing is just steam.