ESTEVAN — Four members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service have ventured to northern Saskatchewan to combat wildfires in the area.
Deputy Fire Chief Kyle Luc revealed at the July 14 meeting of Estevan city council that the fire department received a call from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency the day before, asking for equipment and manpower. The EFRS reached out to its members and four agreed to go.
Lt. Justin Herod and Firefighters Austin Dovell, Nolan LaCoste and Colby Wainman left early July 14 to head to the hamlet of Patuanak – a community that Luc said is 950 kilometres northwest of Estevan so they can provide structural protection. One of the city's fire trucks has also been deployed.
They are expected to be gone until July 20. Then, if needed they would be replaced by four other members of the EFRS for another six days.
Luc said the fire department can still meet the needs of the city and look after the EFRS's agreements with area RMs.
"We have a dedicated group of firefighters here, so they're always ready to answer the call," said Luc.
The EFRS doesn't yet know who will be in the next group of four firefighters to head up north.
"When we put it out that there was a possibility of this happening, it wasn't much of a pitch. It was pretty much everybody saying 'I'll go'," said Luc.
More to come.
