Growing city biggest challenge for Edmonton fire services: chief

As Edmonton's population expands, the city's fire chief says demand for services is also on the rise.

With Edmonton’s population projected to increase by more than 100,000 in the next four years, fire chief David Lazenby says it’s the service’s main concern.

“As we all know, the city is growing rapidly, and with growth comes the need for services,” said Lazenby at a press conference Thursday. “Over the coming years, we will need to ensure that we have the stations and the people to provide suitable protection to all Edmontonians.”

In 2025 Edmonton Fire and Rescue Services (EFRS) responded to 91,000 emergency incidents, involving 166,000 vehicle runs.

“To a data analyst, that’s a volume stat, to me, that represents over 91,000 moments where Edmontonians were in crisis and our dispatchers and our fire crew were there to help,” said Lazenby, adding that the numbers represent a 69-per-cent increase in call volume over the last five years.

More than 30,000 incidents last year were fire-related, 2,000 of those were structure fires. Fifteen Edmontians lost their lives to fire and 118 suffered injuries.

A majority of calls were medical, with EFRS responding to 54,000 events in 2025.

Last year, EFRS adjusted its response criteria in an effort to allocate resources by shedding certain medical calls and prioritizing the most “life-critical.”

“We shed over 10,000 calls where we didn’t feel that we added sufficient value to, and that obviously maintains availability for us to do our primary business: fire and rescue,” said Lazenby. “Because of the increase in overall call volume, our availability is decreasing.”

Going into 2026, Lazenby said they’ll be working to shed more medical calls and divert them to EMS.

EFRS responded to well over 10,000 overdose calls, mostly in the downtown core, and administered Naloxone 2,100 times, up 175 per cent over the previous year, said Lazenby, adding that Fire Station #1 is probably one of the busiest stations in Canada due to the volume of overdose calls.

Crews responded to 14,800 motor vehicle crashes, a 12-per-cent increase from the year before.

The biggest focus for EFRS going into its 120th year will be the four-year budget cycle, where Lazenby hopes to get funding for six new fire halls to keep up with the city’s demand.

“Budget discussions this coming year will be about ‘how do we ensure we’ve got fire stations sited in the newer developing areas?” said Lazenby, adding that another frustration is making sure they have enough funds to replace their fleet and equipment in a timely manner, which have doubled in price over the last few years.

“This is a year where we try to address the realities of a growing city and ensure that we serve Edmontonians equally,” said Lazenby.

In his 30th year in the fire-fighting business, the chief said he is privileged to lead the EFRS.

“I’ve never felt prouder in my career than I feel now. It’s a genuine honor to lead such a professional and committed fire service as this,” he said.