ESTEVAN - The activity level for the Estevan Fire Rescue Service was significantly up this week. Crews responded to seven calls in under four days.
The busy week started off with a call for assistance in locating a missing person. The call came in on March 21 at about 8:30 a.m. One of the residents of an Estevan group home in the south-central area of the city went missing. Firefighters quickly responded and were getting ready to dispatch from the station, when the information was updated. The missing person had been located and everybody stood down.
"We're thankful that the individual was located safe and healthy, and we returned in service after that," said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
The next call for service came in on March 22 at about 8 p.m. Two vehicles collided at a parking lot in central Estevan. Both vehicles left the scene upon firefighters' arrival. As crews were checking that no other vehicles suffered any damage, one of the accident participants came back. They said the collision resulted in very minor damage and vehicle information was exchanged.
At 11:30 p.m. the fire department received another call for service, and crews were dispatched to investigate an odd smoke odour detected in a building located in the north-central area of Estevan. Crews picked up the smell and investigated the situation. It turned out that the building had a coal-fired boiler system, and the exhaust was producing a different smell, which was normal for that type of system. The occupancy was deemed safe.
On March 23 at about 4 a.m. firefighters responded to an ammonia alarm in the curling club. The detection device picked up 22 parts per million of ammonia readings outside the building. However, the situation inside the building was different.
"When crews made entry, inside the building the detection device did not pick up any readings. So maintenance staff joined us on scene, and we verified and cleared the building, and at this time it was deemed as a faulty detection head that had set that off," Feser said.
Shortly after that, at 7 a.m., the EFRS responded to a report of a transformer fire occurring in the back alley of the 500-block of Henry Street. Firefighters secured the perimeter and carefully inspected the area; however, no fire or smoke was found. SaskPower crews made it to the location, as there were power outages reported as well. The scene was turned over to them to investigate and repair the issues.
After a short break, at about 2 p.m., Estevan firefighters responded to a mutual aid call that came from the Midale Fire Department. A significant structure fire was occurring in the Midale fire department's response area and they needed extra manpower. The EFRS supplied resources and were on scene for about three hours helping to put out the fire.
The investigation is ongoing. The Mercury will have more details about the incident as they become available.
On March 24 at about 6 a.m., local fire crews were brought back to service by a carbon monoxide alarm that went off in a residence in the RM of Estevan, south of Hitchcock. Occupants have safely evacuated the building upon firefighters' arrival. No CO was detected inside the house, and a faulty detection device was to blame for an early morning alarm. The house was deemed safe, and people could come back in.
