ESTEVAN - It could have felt like Estevan firefighters went through a very intense basic firefighting training at the end of last week, with nine calls for service of all types.
On May 4 at about 4:30 a.m. fire crews responded to an accident that occurred on Highway 47 about 15 kilometres north of Estevan. A moving vehicle collided with a stationary vehicle, with one staying on the road and blocking traffic in both directions, and the other one hitting the ditch. Both vehicles remained upright, and Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser said fortunately, the drivers sustained only minor injuries.
"Traffic was shut down in both directions for a brief period of time as we established traffic control and isolated the vehicles. And once towing companies were able to arrive on scene, we were able to remove the vehicles and traffic was restored to normal. The scene was then turned over to RCMP to continue to investigate the cause of the collision," Feser said.
Firefighters spent about two hours at the scene.
At about 4:30 p.m. firefighters were called to a child entrapment that occurred at a playground in north-central Estevan. A kid got stuck in the swing seat. Firefighters were able to remove the seat from the main structure and then get the child out without any injuries. The youth remained calm throughout the incident and was returned to their mother afterwards.
On May 5 at about 10 a.m. firefighters were called to Empire Beauty Salon, where a carbon monoxide alarm went off. Some CO was located inside the commercial occupancy, and SaskEnergy also responded to the scene. Crews ventilated and cleared the area, which was also filled with sewer gas. Business owners were advised to check all of their vents for the building.
At about 12:30 p.m., fire crews headed out to the RM of Estevan. A wildland fire occurred southeast of the city.
"Crews arrived on scene to find that there was a substantial fire that was occurring on a property. They were able to put the fire under control and eventually extinguish it. There were a few outbuildings that were lost as a result of the fire prior to the crews' arrival. There were no injuries as a result to any of the family members or firefighters during the extinguishing of this fire," Feser said.
The fire occurred as a result of hot works that were being done at the property.
"Just a reminder, anytime that you're grinding or welding or working on equipment, you want to make sure that you have water or fire extinguishers handy in order to extinguish the fire quickly prior to it growing in size," Feser said.
Shortly after crews got back in service, they were called to a commercial fire alarm occurring in a school in the northern part of Estevan. Once on scene, firefighters found that a maintenance crew was doing some work in the boiler room in the basement and forgot to call the monitoring agency. It was deemed a preventable alarm as there was no emergency occurring.
On May 6, fire crews responded to a report of an elevator entrapment.
"Crews arrived on scene to find that there was an individual they're able to make contact with. In the process of isolating the car, it was found that it was still functional. When it went up to the seventh floor, other tenants of the building entered the car, and they were able to bring the car back down to the main floor. Everybody was removed from the elevator car without incident. The elevator car was tested and seemed to be operational," Feser said.
On May 7 at about 6 p.m., a fire at a Black Beard’s restaurant had firefighters rushing to the scene. The fire occurred on the bottom side of an oven. Crews were able to quickly isolate gas lines and extinguish the fire without incident. The fire resulted in some minor damage, however, it forced the restaurant to close until further notice.
"All of the natural gas services were locked out due to the damage to the gas line as well as the cooking appliance until it has been fixed and corrective action has been taken," Feser explained. "The scene then was turned back over to the restaurant owners."
At about 8 p.m., another commercial fire alarm went off in occupancy in the southcentral area of the city. A fire had occurred in a microwave oven, which was quickly turned off. Crews spent some time ventilating smoke and resetting the fire alarm panel. Nobody was injured as a result of this incident either.
Feser and Deputy Chief Rick Davies also attended the Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs' conference in Yorkton May 5-8. The focus of the conference was on legal obligations for fire chiefs.
"This was the first in-person conference in two years. So, it was great to get out and see everybody. We really focus this year on the laws that pertain to the fire service roles and responsibilities of the fire chiefs, deputy fire chiefs as well as occupants, owners and tenants of buildings," Feser said.
Saskatchewan fire chiefs also discussed changes that are coming from National Fire Protection Association with public education, as well as some new codes that are being introduced with electrical supply centres.
"We took a look at what's called ESS [energy centres], basically grouping rooms that house rechargeable batteries for certain occupancies. So this is going to be something new. They're either houses with lithium-ion or lead-acid style batteries. We have to do a lot of pre-planning when it comes to something like that because conventional firefighting techniques oftentimes aren't the best," Feser said.
He added that with SaskPower's announcement of its biggest solar facility coming to the Estevan area, local firefighters have to ensure that they are ready for any emergency that may occur.
Feser said the conference was very well attended.
"We got to thank Yorkton fire department, they were the host fire department for this venue this year and did an outstanding job," Feser said.
