The Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) had a hot week, with numerous calls for service, including a camper fire, a carbon monoxide (CO) leak, a vehicle rollover and others.
On June 21, local firefighters responded to the report of a fire occurring at the Woodlawn Regional Park’s Souris River campground, where one of the camper trailers caught on fire. The call came in at about 5:30 p.m.
"Crews arrived on scene to find that there was a ground fire and electrical fire that was occurring on the inner side of a camper trailer," said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser. "Thanks to quick-thinking actions of neighbouring camper who were able to get a fire extinguisher on it and keep it at bay."
Feser praised the neighbour for quickly calling 911 and acting to prevent the fire from spreading. There were no injuries as a result of the fire, and damage was kept to a minimum. Firefighters ensured complete extinguishment and contacted the owner.
The next call for service came in at 11:30 p.m. the same day. A CO alarm went off on the southwest side of Estevan. The family safely exited the building prior to firefighters' arrival. Crews entered the building to find that the level of CO was higher than normal, upwards of 90 plus parts per million.
"Quick thinking actions – calling 911 and evacuating your family out of the home safely when that carbon monoxide alarm went off," Feser said.
SaskEnergy was called to the scene as well, and secondary assessment confirmed initial readings. It turned out to be an issue with the family's furnace.
"There were three young children that were sleeping downstairs in this particular area. So had they continued to sleep through the night there, they would obviously have suffered some effects of carbon monoxide exposure," Feser said.
On June 23 at about 11:30 p.m., fire crews responded to a vehicle rollover outside the city limits.
"We were called to the report of a single-vehicle rollover, which was a semi … tractor trailer. This happened at Highway 47 north a couple of miles south of the Highway 361 junction to Lampman," Feser said.
The driver, who was the lone occupant of the vehicle, was able to self extricate. He had minor injuries, and EMS treated and released him on scene.
Fire crews remained at the site for a while due to the amount of debris that was on the highway. Firefighters also assisted with the tow truck operator doing traffic control alongside the RCMP services.
They were able to clear the scene a few hours later when it was turned over to the RCMP for further investigation.
In the morning of June 24, firefighters were called to a fire alarm that went off in a commercial occupancy south of Estevan.
"Just as we're getting ready to leave the fire station. The manager of the facility had called and indicated that they were painting in the area, there's no actual emergency that was occurring. So officers stood down and returned to the station," Feser said.
Another commercial fire alarm went off at about 3:30 p.m. that same day in the south-central part of the city.
"When crews did arrive on scene, they didn't find any smoke or flame from the exterior of the building. They made entry, talked to the managers and it was found that they actually had opened up the dishwasher with the high humidity conditions. It actually mimics smoke and sets off the fire alarm system. So we're able to reset the fire alarm panel and return to the station," Feser said.
