GRAPHIC WARNING: The following details may disturb some readers. 

The Vancouver Fire Rescue Services has announced that crews are seeing an unprecedented number of overdoses and emergencies in the city.

On Nov. 21, the department broke its record of single-day overdose responses.

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Cpt. Matt Trudeau says that crews responded to 54 incidents on that Friday.

In 2024, VFRS responded to an average of 20 to 25 overdose reports a day.

Trudeau highlighted the strain these emergencies have on the community and fire crews.

“Crews are very resilient with this, but seeing a very high level of extreme levels of human suffering every day, everyone reacts differently and has different thresholds for that,” he told 1130 NewsRadio.

Trudeau recalls an incident in which one person was suffering from a drug overdose, compounded by another substance.

“The other one was another drug that was being added into fentanyl, I believe, related to an animal tranquilizer or some other powerful drug was being added in.”

In order to avoid “compassion fatigue” among crew members, firefighters at Firehall 2 are limited to 81 shifts.

Firehall 2 had about 452 emergency calls last week compared to 229 over the same period last year.

The VFRS says the opioid crisis in the province continues to impact families, communities, and first responders every day.

With files from David Nadalini.