Dear Editor,
Dear Mr. Wall et al.,
My name is Dustin Eskra and I am from Churchbridge.
Here is a little back ground on myself.
I am 29 y/o and I work as a miner at PotashCorp Rocanville. I come from a family with 2 brothers; one which works at Mosaic Esterhazy and one is an Intermediate Care Paramedic in Langenburg. Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a fireman just like most young boys; luckily for me, my dad was the Fire Chief in our town so going to the hall and playing in the trucks happened frequently.
My brothers and I basically grew up in the emergency services. My dad was a huge influence on all of us as he was the chief in our town as well as the chief of the ERT at Mosaic Esterhazy for a good portion of my life. My dad started a junior firefighter program promoting young people to join the fire department in Churchbridge so when my brothers and I turned 16 each of us joined. Both of my bothers graduated from the Parkland College with their NFPA 1001 but neither pursued firefighting as a profession. I have been on our volunteer department for 13 years and being an emergency first responder is something I work hard at and am proud of.
Our call volume is not very high but we respond to a high number of incidents along the highway whether it be a motor vehicle collision or a vehicle fire or a grass fire along the CP line, none the less, they are all along the highway. The dangers we face at these incidents are not the incidents themselves, they are the passing motorists. At our last CP line fire most vehicles did not slow to 60 km/h while passing us. When I was 20 I was almost struck by a car speeding through zero visibility smoke while I was standing beside our truck. I hope you can understand my frustration and that this is something I do not tolerate. I am fully aware that this happens across our province so I hope that I can speak for most of them here.
Recently my wife and I drove to B.C. for our honey moon. While I was driving through Alberta I had seen two signs at every town along the Trans Canada. One stated to slow to 60 km/h while passing constructions crews, fines double and the other sign stated slow to 60 km/h when passing emergency vehicles.
What I am asking for Mr. Wall is to consider more specified signs for awareness to motorists that travel our main highways such as the ones I seen in Alberta. I feel that in todays day and age people are more and more complacent on our roads and do need constant reminders. It would be devastating to the communities if we had to “enforce” another law due to the death of a person working along the highway.
I know first responders have a place in your heart Mr. Wall so please consider my request and help keep us safer on our roads. A small step in the right direction is still a step in the right direction.
Thank you for your time.
Dustin Eskra
Deputy Chief
Churchbridge Fire Rescue
www.churchbridgefirerescue.ca
