The Okotoks Fire Department responded to one fire response at a residence last week involving outdoor cooking in this week's fire report.

Fire Chief Ken Thevenot says they saw a drop in calls from their previous weeks but still put in an average week of calls responded to.

"We attended 20 calls, nine being medical responses, five motor vehicle accidents, four alarm system activations, one smoke investigation and we dealt with one fire regarding a barbeque," he says.

Thevenot says through almost two months of the year they're still down in responses from this point last year even with the dryer conditions with no wild fires responded to.

"We're at 151 responses, last year at this time were at 159 so we're pretty close but a little behind from last year but overall even with the black ice that was out there Monday didn't increase those numbers."

Thevenot says he was surprised that there weren't more calls to them on Monday after the large amount of black ice and slippery conditions as motorists have had a pretty nice commute this winter.

"Had the potential there with more motor vehicle accidents so people just need to be cautious of that with the next month so we can totally get out of this freezing season."

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