At 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Firehall 2 on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside responded to a fire on Gore Avenue. Fifteen pieces of fire-fighting equipment from two halls were required to douse the flames.

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“It was a working fire, with heavy black smoke coming out of the building. Two people were transported to hospital with smoke inhalation,” said Vancouver Fire Chief Karen Fry.

If crews were not available because they were responding to a call that wasn’t critical, that outcome could have been much worse.

To better manage resources, Firehall 2 has announced it will limit the number of “low-acuity calls” it responds to so firefighters can focus on their core services — fighting fires.

They will continue to respond to life-threatening calls in cases where paramedics can’t reach a site within six minutes, said Fry.

“Compared to last year, we’ve seen a 51 per cent increase in runs from Firehall 2 in the first quarter of this year,” said Fry. Medical runs from Firehall 2 jumped 102 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to 2025.

On a recent day, Firehall 2’s four crews responded to a record-breaking 94 calls.

Fry called the increased volume of medical calls “unsustainable.”

In a May 11 memo to B.C. Emergency Health Services, Fry said that due to a sustained and increased call volume, Firehall 2 needed to focus on core services, and would make adjustments to the responses they attend.

Those adjustments were immediate, and resulted in a reduction of about four calls a day in the Downtown Eastside, said Fry.

In June, further reductions to “Code Red” calls, those that currently require fire and ambulance, will begin, “in order to have services available for other emergencies,” said Fry.

Fry said the changes will eliminate duplication of services.

“I don’t think people will notice much of a difference. Right now, they get a firetruck and an ambulance. They are still going to get an ambulance, and if the ambulance is going to be too long, they will get a firefighter until the ambulance will get there.”

“We are in an overdose crisis, and that’s driving a lot of the calls for service,” Fry continued. “We need to be able to keep our core services available to be able to respond to fires and the most severe medical emergencies. If someone is having a cardiac arrest or doesn’t have a pulse, we want to be able to respond to those.”

Fry said firefighters will continue to respond to overdoses, but will stop responding to less-critical medical calls.

The Victoria Fire Department recently made a similar decision, citing fatigue and burnout among its firefighters. On Jan. 5, Victoria council voted to support a reduction in the number of medical-aid calls the fire department responds to.

Fry said she has briefed the City of Vancouver, but doesn’t see this move as anything unusual.

“We make adjustments all the time.”

Cori Ramsay, the president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, said municipalities throughout B.C. are reassessing service levels due to the increasing pressures of the opioid and mental health crises.

“We need a funding approach to offset local governments that are now in the position of providing provincial services.”

Firefighters are funded by municipalities, and B.C. Ambulance is funded by the province.

A resolution endorsed at the 2025 UBCM convention asked the province to help pay for the increased number of calls for fire departments. But a response attached to the resolution the B.C. health ministry said agreements between B.C. Emergency Health Services and local governments were voluntary, and municipalities could decide the types of calls they will respond to.

Ramsay said that stance puts local governments in a tough position.

“Lives will be lost.”

Provincial Health Minister Josie Osborne said this week the province will be “closely monitoring” the situation.

Scott Rose, a firefighter and vice-president of IFF Local 18, the local firefighters’ union, said firefighters aren’t trying to get out of doing calls.

“We are protecting our service to make sure that if you are in a high-acuity situation, whether it’s a fire, motor vehicle accident, or requires a technical rope rescue, hazardous material, or marine rescue, you don’t want your firefighters who have specialized skills and equipment to be sitting with a patient who is dealing with a headache.”

Rose said the firefighters’ union supports Fry’s decision.

“There should be no gap in service. If someone needs critical care, we are going to be there.”

dryan@postmedia.com