Weyburn Fire Department was dispatched at 12:07 p.m. to a report of a large- possible tire fire at the Canadian Tire Weyburn location on April 28.
The Weyburn Fire full complement response on the first alarm was: the Deputy Fire Chief, one engine, one Rescue Pumper and one aerial apparatus.
In the official report from Fire Chief Simon Almond, the Deputy Fire Chief Poulin arrived first on scene and assumed fire command. His initial assessment indicated, yes indeed there was a fairly substantial amount of tires and other substances on fire, in addition to the natural gas feed line to the property had ruptured at the meter assembly and had ignited. Chief Poulin then passed an assistance message requesting additional fire personnel, EMS, Police and SaskEnergy to attend.
Deputy Poulin directed the fire crews to utilize 2 x 38 mm hand lines c/w foam to attack the tires and other substances on fire and 1x 65 mm hand line to provide exposure protection to the building itself, and he also declared an offensive fire mitigation strategy. He specifically indicated to the fire crews to not extinguish the natural gas fire if at all possible at that time.
Weyburn Police provided assistance with traffic control and a crew from Weyburn EMS were directed to standby in case of firefighter or civilian injuries.
SaskEnergy arrived on scene and utilized their specialized equipment to pinch the gas line, which as a consequence mitigated the natural gas fire.
The aerial apparatus was deployed to enable a Weyburn Fire Department crew to monitor the roof conditions and also to provide fire control if needed.
Once the natural gas situation was curtailed, Weyburn Fire crews made short work on the remaining fire conditions and crews moved into overhaul operations.
Deputy Poulin declared loss stopped for this incident 1:57 p.m., however one crew member remained on scene for a substantial period of time monitoring the conditions. The remaining crews and apparatus returned to the station and returned all equipment, the apparatus and themselves to operational status.
The incident was operationally terminated and all units and personnel were back in service 4:09 p.m.
The Incident is currently under investigation, however at this time, it is not believed that any malicious intent was involved.
Damage estimates are approximately $100,000 for the building and content damage is undetermined at this time.
