The cost to the Saskatoon Fire Department of five suspicious package calls is in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Between March 16 and 28, crews responded to five calls of a white powder at five different locations in the city.
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Each one turned out to be non-hazardous, but assistant fire chief Wayne Rodger said they have to treat each call as a potential safety threat.
“Each time, we have to call out our hazardous materials and emergency measures teams, on top of regular crews – and that costs money,” Rodger said in a statement.
Between 23 and 26 staff and seven to eight vehicles responded to each call, a total of $75,650 in salaries and operating costs. This also includes the costs of off-duty staff called back to provide coverage of stations left vacant during each incident.
READ MORE: Suspicious packages can lead to serious charges: Saskatoon police
Coun. Darren Hill asked the city solicitor at the last council meeting to explore options of seeking restitution if anyone is convicted in any of the cases.
“If someone is arrested and a judge decides any of these incidents break the law, city council does not want taxpayers to pay for the emergency response,” Rodger added.
No arrests have been made and Saskatoon police detectives continue to investigate.
Date Hours Cost
March 16, 2017 4.00 $20,900.00
March 23, 2017 2.00 $10,500.00
March 27, 2017 2.50 $13,125.00
March 27, 2017 3.00 $15,750.00
March 28, 2017 3.00 $15,375.00