MANDAN, N.D. (KXNET) — The Mandan Fire Department has had a busy year overall but one thing that might surprise residents is the number of fire calls received during the winter months so far.

The department has seen a 4% increase in call volume which is a 27% increase overall in five years.

However, despite it being winter, the amount of structure fires has been on the lower end of the scale.

According to the department, there hasn’t been a structure fire in the last few months.

However, the winter storms did cause an uptick in other types of calls

“I would say between the two storms we fielded close to 30 calls a day. Or during the event. Those were a significant load on the fire department during that time but nothing we weren’t able to handle,” said Mandan Battalion Chief, Shane Weltikol.

During winter storms it’s not uncommon for the fire department to get a range of calls they normally don’t respond to, like stranded drivers.