The Estevan fire department had a busy start to the week, which culminated with two fires on Wednesday.
The first fire was noticed by one of the Estevan firefighters who was off duty and heading home from the gym in the early morning Wednesday. He saw a plume of smoke coming from a house deck with no obvious source for that smoke. He came closer to realize that the deck was on fire and the exterior front side of the house was catching on fire as well.
He alerted the Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) and woke up the owners.
“They were able to put the fire out as it was still fairly small at this time. However, it was starting to consume some of the wooden railings, but they were able to put it out with the garden hose,” said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
Fire crews arrived on scene and did the follow-up. It was found that a cigarette discarded into a potting soil of a planter was the cause of the fire.
“Everybody has to keep in mind that potting soil components are highly flammable at times, especially in the right conditions when it’s super hot out, so there is a lot of nitrates in the soil,” said Feser. “Disposing of cigarette butts in there will cause a small smouldering fire occurring, and it will likely spread over to wood deck railing, which was the case.”
Feser praised the firefighter’s actions, which saved the homeowners from a possible catastrophe occurring.
The next call for service came in at about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday when crews were dispatched to an outdoor fire at Woodlawn Regional Park. When firefighters made it to the park, a big pile of wood was fully engulfed in flames. The fire was in close proximity to recreational equipment and campers.
“We were able to quickly bring the fire under control. But it took quite a few hours to overhaul a pile and ensure we were not going to have any ambers migrating from it and getting full extinguishment as the wind was coming up at times. We just wanted to make sure that there was no chance of any reignition,” said Feser.
He also thanked the campers for their quick reaction by calling 911 and for keeping the fire from spreading over to recreational equipment with the help of garden hoses while they were waiting for the fire crews to arrive.
“Quick thinking on behalf of individuals there definitely saved loss of property and possible injury.”
Earlier this week on Monday, two people walked into the fire station to report that their carbon monoxide (CO) alarm system went off in their residence. Crews responded to the call as a non-emergency to troubleshoot what was believed to be a faulty detection device at the time. Firefighters entered the home and tested the atmosphere with gas detection equipment. There were zero readings of CO, and it was confirmed the detection device was faulty.
“The homeowners were advised to purchase a couple of new detection devices and install them at home,” said Feser.
Later in the afternoon of the same day crews were alerted to a commercial fire alarm that went off at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course Clubhouse. Firefighters couldn’t see any smoke or flame on the outside. The fire alarm panel was indicating that the stairwell alarm was going off. Crews checked the area with thermal-imaging cameras and gas detecting equipment.
“There was no cause for alarm, so we continued to sweep and cleared the entire building and again came up with negative results for any cause for the alarm,” said Feser.
Firefighters reset the fire alarm panel, which helped, so it was concluded the electronic malfunction was a cause of the alarm.
At about 8 a.m. on Tuesday, fire crews responded to another commercial fire alarm that went off in an industrial area in the east part of Estevan. Upon arrival, crews didn’t see any sign of smoke or flame on the exterior. The fire alarm panel inside indicated that the duct alarm set was going off. Along with maintenance staff, crews investigated further but there was no cause found. They reset the fire alarm panel, but another set of alarm went off in the ductwork in the other part of the building. Firefighters checked it out, but again there was no fire occurring.
“It seemed to be a case of dust entering into the fresh air intake and setting off the detection devices,” said Feser.
Maintenance staff was advised to clean the ductwork and filters to ensure they are limiting the amount of dust entering the building’s systems.
