North Battleford Fire Chief Trevor Brice shown at council Monday. He said sharp pickups continue to be a significant concern. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

Challenged by sharps

Sharps tally higher than last year: fire chief

May 28, 2019 | 9:07 AM

The North Battleford Fire Department continues to face challenges with numerous discarded needles strewn about the city, raising public safety concerns.

Fire Chief Trevor Brice discussed the issue at council’s meeting Monday, saying the number of sharps found remains significant.

“The trend is still going upwards,” he told battlefordsNOW.

Firefighters have picked up the highest amount of needles in the downtown and Sapp Valley areas of North Battleford, but the problem exists throughout the city.

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The chief said some of the department’s higher pickups this year have yielded as many as 3,000 needles.

“We have about four or five incidents of large quantities of needles and sharps this year,” said Brice. “Certainly, in May that trend has continued.”

The department responded to 84 calls for sharp pickups from Jan. to April 2019, compared to 11 over the same time period last year. In April alone, they responded to 43.

The chief said the department is working with other agencies to address the issue.

In response to a council query, Brice said he will investigate how other jurisdictions are dealing with sharp pickups.

“It’s a major concern,” he said of the number of pickups. “We’re working with the partnerships we have in identifying those places, and doing what we can with those partners to try to reduce this (problem).”

Mayor Ryan Bater said perhaps the city needs to have additional disposal boxes installed in the community so people have more opportunity to access them as needed.

“Maybe we need to look at the locations of those boxes and whether we need more,” Bater said. “We have a lot of sharps being left in homes and other locations that are not safe. We want to ensure public safety. If that will help, we’re open to it.”

The mayor said he is encouraged to hear the fire chief has been discussing the issue with the Ministry of Health.

While council is concerned about the amount of firefighter time spent responding to sharp complaints, its main focus is public safety – to have the needles removed as quickly as possible.

Bater said the city is looking forward to hearing what other communities are doing to respond to sharps found in their locations.

“Public safety is really the objective here,” reiterated the mayor. “We’re seeing more and more instances of needles, and we don’t want them out in the public.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow