Above map displays top ten collision intersections in 2016 with links to SteinbachOnline news stories.


The number of calls for Steinbach Fire Department keeps growing each year.

In 2016, the Steinbach Fire Department responded to 345 calls. That is up from 331 in 2015.

Fire Chief Kel Toews says historically about one-third of all calls are for motor vehicle collisions (MVC). In 2016, there were 115 such calls, which is up from 92 the previous year. Toews notes there were two fatal collisions they responded to last year.

There were two intersections in Steinbach that were tied for the most collisions in 2016. Steinbach emergency crews were called to Highway 52 and Industrial Road six times. They were also called six times to the Main Street, Hespeler Street and McKenzie Avenue intersection.

Meanwhile, emergency personnel was called five times to Highway 12/ Loewen Boulevard, five times to Highway 12/ Main Street and four times to Highway 12/ McKenzie Avenue. According to Toews, the stretch of Highway 12 from Loewen Boulevard to Clearspring Centre had about 20 collisions last year.

As for fire calls, they were down in 2016. Toews notes 19 times they were called to a building where there was an active fire inside. That is up from 12 in 2015. He notes there were house and garage fires, though no major commercial fires last year.

Though December was a busy month for carbon monoxide detector calls, Toews says 2016 ended up being just an average year with 18 of those. That is up only one from 2015.

The number of false alarms remains steady each year. In 2016, there were 73 such calls, which is down from 81 in 2015. False alarms come from either a residential or commercial building where somebody has pulled an alarm when there wasn't a fire, or it could be the result of a defective detector.

Meanwhile, Toews says while they do get called to scenes where 911 need not have been called, it is better to be safe than sorry. In fact, he notes they sometimes show up to a location and the owner tells them that everything is okay. Yet, after closer inspection, they discover it was a good thing 911 was called.