On a recent Monday evening, the crew at Toronto's Grosvenor Street firehall responded to three calls in the span of about an hour: a small kitchen fire at one nearby building, and alarms ringing out at two others. The station's senior captain, 34-year firefighter Jack Cooper, said it was a normal evening for the city's busiest pumper truck, located in Toronto's dense downtown core. Mr. Cooper, whose on-the-job injuries include electrocution and falls from fences, said heading into a burning building is always exciting. But across town, at the Runnymede fire hall targeted for closure in the 2013 budget, things are decidedly slower.
Below, a look at the disparity in call volumes between some of the city's busiest and least busy fire stations. Also see what an average number of calls looks like for six Toronto fire trucks slated to be closed. Read the full story.
Interactive by STUART A. THOMPSON