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Weyburn Fire Department may look at satellite fire stations

Fire chief shares presentation with Rotary Club

The challenges and incidents faced by the Weyburn Fire Department were described to members of the Weyburn Rotary Club on Thursday in a Zoom meeting with the Fire Chief, Simon Almond. (The photos above show just two recent incidents where they responded: a truck collision with one of the wheat sculptures, and a field fire west of Weyburn a couple of weeks ago.)

One challenge that will need to be dealt with is the need for a satellite station or two as Weyburn grows, with one on the South Hill to cover that area in the event of trains cutting off a response to an emergency, said Almond.

In his presentation, the 35-year veteran of fire fighting explained how the department is currently set up, what they respond to and what equipment they are using to protect the area.

The Weyburn Fire Department has four paid career fire fighters, and 29 on-call volunteer fire fighters, said Almond, who pointed out the word “volunteer” is a misnomer.

“We do pay them, but we don’t pay them anywhere close to what they’re worth,” said the fire chief, adding, “This community would benefit from having more career fire fighters, however, it’s a budgetary thing. It would cost the community $150,000 with the wages, benefits and pensions.”

With the way Weyburn is organized, with the Soo Line railway going through the middle of it, Almond said if the city keeps growing they are going to need a satellite fire station.

“We are somewhat vulnerable right now. We’re cut off by trains three to four times a day, so we’d like to see something on the other side of the tracks,” said Almond, adding that with the new hospital location announced for Fifth Avenue North, they may need a satellite in that area as well.

The Weyburn department is very well equipped, he noted, with Engine 51 as the primary response unit, a uniquely designed unit that was the first of its kind in North America; Rescue 51 in the primary response unit for motor vehicle accidents and carries their rescue equipment as well as being the secondary unit for fires; Tanker 51, which carries 13,000 litres of water, primarily for rural area fires and grass fires; and Ladder 51, a 2008 unit that has a 105-foot extension ladder that is sometimes put into use as a lighting tower for rural calls.

They also have a utility vehicle used for grass fires, and two command units, one that he drives and a new red truck that deputy chief Denis Poulin drives.

The Fire Department is dispatched out of the province’s central dispatch centre in Prince Albert, after being dispatched for many years through the Weyburn Police Service. With over 200 calls a year, the police dispatch were finding that job “onerous”, said Almond.

Their responses range from structural fires, grass fires and motor vehicle accidents to rescues, oil battery fires, train derailments, and in the last few years, more and more to hazardous material incidents. They also respond to assist police or the EMS as requested.

The fire chief noted that COVID has caused a change in the way the department can train now, as they can no longer have the entire department come out on a Wednesday night as they have been doing for years.

“We’ve had to change that because I couldn’t risk having all 32 all together, which is against provincial guidelines, even though it is a workplace. I couldn’t risk having the entire department be exposed,” he said, as it would result in not being able to respond to an emergency if any of their members got COVID.

They began by only having a quarter of the fire fighters come out on practice night, and now they’ve increased that to half of the fire fighters, on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Asked by Rotary member Vic Wiebe about handling train derailments and any hazardous materials they may be carrying, Chief Almond noted that the vast majority of trains are carrying some kind of hazardous materials, even if it’s just the fuel for the engine.

“We’re as prepared as any department possibly can be,” said Almond, adding that both CP and CN Rail have a lot of contingency plans in place, and are very good at sharing resources and mobilizing resources should any site require it at a derailment.

Asked about manning of satellite fire stations if they are established, the chief said mainly the satellite stations would be used as a resource, and they would likely increase the number of paid fire fighters in order to keep the stations properly manned.

“It’s a lifestyle for them. I can’t pay them enough. It doesn’t just happen in Weyburn, it happens all over the world. It’s a lifestyle they’ve adopted,” said Almond of his fire fighting staff.

“I’m really impressed with the way they’re a team, the way they support one another. I see it radiating from all of the fire fighters, their camaraderie is second to none as far as I can see,” said Rotary member Mal Barber, adding he also sees it in the way they volunteer at events in the community.

Asked about how training sessions are run, and if live fires are used at practices, the chief noted they do try and do some training with live fires, but those are difficult to arrange and organize. They can’t do a live burn of a property in the city limits, due to the smoke that results from a fire, but they will try and train at least once a year at a rural property when they’re able to arrange it.

Meantime, the department aims for every member to train attend least 70 per cent of training sessions, as continuous training is important to keep their skills up. One change in recent years is also an emphasis on mental health also, as they try to do at least six sessions a year on mental health issues, even bringing the fire fighters’ families in for those if they can.