ESTEVAN - The Estevan Fire Rescue Service responded to seven calls for service over the weekend after another snowstorm covered the southeast corner of the province.
To ensure the public's safety and the shortest response times during the emergency, the EFRS had the station staffed for 24 hours with two shifts of firefighters being ready to go at any time.
The busy weekend started on Saturday at about 10 a.m. when fire crews responded to a commercial fire alarm going off in the southcentral area. After the complete assessment of the building, it was found the alarm was triggered by moisture entering the building through the fresh air intake. With no emergency, the scene was cleared and crews returned to the station.
The first call caused by the storm came on Saturday evening. At about 6:30 p.m., firefighters were called to a down powerline. The accident occurred at Ninth Avenue and Fourth Street in the back alley.
"Crews did attend the scene to find out the power pole had suffered some structural compromise. We set up perimeter control to ensure nobody was going to enter the area. SaskPower crews arrived on scene to repair the powerlines and restore power to the area," said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
At about 10:30 p.m., firefighters rushed to a hotel in southeast Estevan where two individuals were trapped in an elevator due to a power outage. Fire crews isolated the elevator car and lowered it to the main floor to rescue people without incident.
Shortly after midnight, the night shift responded to a power pole fire occurring in the southeast area. Once on scene, crews found that the pole had been broken by the wind. They blocked off the area so that SaskPower was able to isolate and repair the pole.
Sunday morning at about 10:30 a.m., firefighters rushed to a powerline that fell on Highway 39 between Estevan and Hitchcock. The powerline was laying across the highway, so firefighters had to provide traffic control to make sure nobody was going to drive over the line until the EFRS verified the line was isolated.
"Thanks for the assistance from the Department of Highways for bringing up some signage to indicate that there was a hazard, so people can slow down and observe the hazard," Feser said.
SaskPower crews took over the scene to repair the line.
At about 1:45 p.m., firefighters were called out again. A commercial fire alarm went off in northeast Estevan. Once on scene, firefighters found that contractors were working in the building, using a vacuum cleaner, in which a bag broke and dust triggered the alarm.
Another commercial fire alarm went off at about 4 p.m. in southcentral Estevan. It appeared to be cooking-related, and there wasn't enough smoke for any ventilation efforts. The fire alarm panel was reset, and crews returned to the fire station.
After the very active weekend, Feser thanked everyone involved in ensuring the public's safety throughout that time.
"We just want to give a huge shout-out to SaskPower. I really do think that they're the unsung heroes of this, their crews and subsidiary crews that they were bringing in to assist. Obviously, this weather had a very severe impact on the electrical infrastructure in the area. And they're working day and night here, as long as it's safe to do so, to restore power to a lot of critical infrastructure in the outlying areas," Feser said.
He noted that Estevan was very fortunate that it didn't receive the full snowfall accumulations that were anticipated with this weather event. That wasn't the case for some communities to the northeast of Estevan.
Feser also remarked that Estevan firefighters and EMO were well prepared for anything that would have resulted. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency was brought in with some strategic equipment to ensure that critical infrastructure keeps functioning no matter what.
