Members of Altona/Rhineland Emergency Services have responded to an usually high number of calls for service since the start of the year.

Fire Chief Greg Zimmerman says year-to-date, the department has responded to 23 calls in the first quarter of 2019. This compares to 13 calls during the same period of 2016, 18 in 2017 and 16 in 2018.

"Although it doesn't seem like that much, for a small town department it's fairly substantial," he added.

A majority of the calls year-to-date, 8 in fact, have been for fires which includes 1 barn fire, 2 in garages, 3 vehicle fires and 2 at industrial shops.

Six calls have been for motor vehicle accidents.

"They all could have been preventable," said Zimmerman. "So I'd just like to urge everybody to be aware of their surroundings and what they're doing, and please be careful."

Crews have also responded to 4 rescue/medical assists and 5 alarm calls.