Drug are projected to increase 500 per cent in 91原创 City.

City fire chief Rory Thompson told Monday night鈥檚 city council meeting the number of overdose calls handled by city firefighters rose from 80 overdoses in 2015 to 228 in 2016.

So far this year, there have been 178 cases, and the fire department expects the final tally will be about five times higher than it was in 2015.

鈥淭his continues to be significant,鈥� Thompson told council.

鈥淚t continues to grow.鈥�

Thompson noted that the Fraser Health Authority has found the majority of cases are not homeless, that 70 per cent of overdose patients treated at the ER 鈥渉ave a home.鈥�

Thompson told The Times that all City firefighters, including paid on-call firefighters, have been trained in the administration of the anti-overdose naloxone drug (91原创 RCMP have also been trained).

鈥淭here鈥檚 all sorts of different sorts of combinations of drugs that we鈥檙e seeing on the street, including the (a synthetic drug that is extremely potent and considered the main cause of the spike in overdose cases) being mixed in with other products,鈥� Thompson said.

鈥淪ometimes we鈥檙e seeing heroin that鈥檚 mixed with , heroin that鈥檚 mixed with fentanyl.鈥�

鈥淭he quality and consistency of the product they鈥檙e buying is not there,鈥� Thompson said.

鈥淚n some cases they (users) could take it and have a normal reaction to taking drugs and some cases (they are) turning into fatalities, unfortunately.鈥�

Thompson was asked if the rising number of overdoses, some of them fatal, has meant increased stress for firefighters.

鈥淚t certainly does,鈥� Thompson said.

鈥淥ur firefighters are typically a very caring lot and you know it certainly does take a bit of a toll when you constantly see people that are in medical distress. 鈥�

Thompson said the 91原创 City fire department is working with other agencies to combat overdoses.

鈥淭his really is a community problem and it is going to take the community working together to come up with solutions.鈥�

At the same Monday council meeting, the officer in charge of the 91原创 RCMP detachment, Supt. Murray Power told council that , a synthetic large animal sedative that is far more powerful than fentanyl, has been identified in the 91原创s by drug enforcement investigators who have seized it from local drug dealers.

鈥淐arfentinil is here, unfortunately and that鈥檚 going to increase risk levels for users and front line officers alike,鈥� Power said.

Deaths from drug overdoses have been averaging more than 100 a month in B.C. since 2016.

Figures from the BC Coroners Service show the proportion of illicit drug deaths where fentanyl was detected continues to climb. Last year, roughly 60 per cent of of these deaths included fentanyl, but that number has risen to 72 per cent through the first four months of 2017.

Carfentinil, which can be fatal in very small amounts when it is used as an additive to street drugs, is believed to have first arrived in Metro Vancouver in November of 2016.

In January, tests confirmed its presence in drug treatment centres in Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Maple Ridge and Richmond.