Two rural municipalities in southeast Saskatchewan have been recognized for their efforts to co-operate, and in the process, enhance the safety of their residents.
The 737 Volunteer Fire Department, comprised of the RM of Souris Valley No. 7 and RM of Lomond No. 37, was the runner-up for the Saskatchewan Municipal Awards. The grand opening for the fire department came in June 2018, with the fire hall located in Tribune.
The two RMs teamed up to establish a volunteer fire department to provide wildland firefighting services to residents and ratepayers of both municipalities, in addition to mutual aid to neighbouring areas.
Erica Peterson, the chief administration officer for the RM of Souris Valley, said it was a long process to establish the fire department, but they work together to cover the large area.
“In 2019 we had so many more calls than 2020, because 2019 was so much drier,’ said Peterson. “We’ve had everything from pasture fires to combine fires to vehicle fires on the highway. We’ve had a little bit of everything.”
About 60 people are part of the fire department, with a few more people from the Lomond side. Glenn Walkeden from the RM of Souris Valley is the fire chief, and each RM – Kyle Ashworth of Souris Valley and Brian Woodard of Lomond – supplies a deputy fire chief.
Alesha Underwood, the administrator for the RM of Lomond, said a portion of Lomond and a portion of the RM of Souris Valley were covered by Weyburn’s fire department at one time, but changes that were coming to that arrangement led to the councils for both RMs to discuss services, and they thought they could do a better job of providing services.
“There would be a quicker response time … for our ratepayers,” said Underwood. “We did have fire protection services before, but this is a better situation.”
Residents are happy to have a fire department in the community.
“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the ratepayers in both municipalities. The response time for any incidents that we’ve attended has been very, very minimal. We’ve been to a lot of incidents where had we had to wait half an hour or 45 minutes for fire services to get there, I think they could have been a lot worse,” said Underwood.
The 737 Fire Department has also been to the RMs of Lake Alma and Cambria for mutual aid calls.
It’s been a lot of hard work to get the fire department up and running, so it’s nice to be recognized.
“The point of us applying for the award was not to win. It was a point to let other RMs know that by working together, it’s much easier. Not every RM needs to have its own fire hall,” said Peterson.
Underwood added that it was exciting to be recognized for their efforts.
“It’s a big job to be able work with another municipality to collaborate … and it’s very rewarding and fulfilling that we can provide this now, we can provide better … fire protection services for the residents of our municipalities,” Underwood said.
The 737 Volunteer Fire Department has equipment necessary to provide service for residents. At the main Tribune hall, they have two 2019 Ford F-550 four-wheel drives with wildfire skid units, a 2004 Sterling water tender truck, and a 1998 Ford Louisville 9000 water tender truck.
Walkeden noted that the Ford Louisville was donated by a department in Grenora, N.D. The two 2019 F-550s were equipped in-house, at the cost it would have been to have one truck factory-made.
At their Oungre hall, they also have a 2012 Ford F-350 with a wildland skid unit, and at their Goodwater building, they have a 2016 Ford F-550 with a wildland skid unit.
All trucks are well-equipped. Two have first responder kits and two have AEDs.
