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Firefighters had a couple of recent calls

Members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service have handled a couple of calls in the past few days. The first was an outdoor industrial fire that occurred in southeast Estevan on Friday.
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Members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service have handled a couple of calls in the past few days.

The first was an outdoor industrial fire that occurred in southeast Estevan on Friday. When they arrived, it was found that it was part of an industrial process, and the fire had occurred accidentally.

Crews arrived and suppressed the fire.

“It quickly turned into a hazardous materials response call, as the drainage of the yard was actually going into natural drainage ditches so we had to act quickly and dike the suppression runoff water from entering into these areas,” said Fire Chief Dale Feser.

Vacuum trucks were called to the location as well, and machine booms were used to protect the waterways. It turned into an extended call, but the fire department wanted to be sure they were protecting the waterways at all times.

Then on Sunday afternoon they were alerted to a commercial fire alarm at a multi-use occupancy. The cleaning staff was inside the building to disinfect and decontaminate the building.

One person was wiping down the control head monitor mounted to the wall and set off the fire alarm system.

“We want to make sure people are being extra cautious when they’re working around these particular areas to prevent an accidental alarm from occurring,” said Feser.

The fire department has also adjusted their operations in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been in conference calls and teleconferences with a lot of the provincial entities they associate with, to stay abreast and updated with what is happening during the pandemic.

A rotational shifting has begun so that Feser and Deputy Fire Chief Rick Davies are not in the fire hall at the same time. If one is diagnosed with COVID-19, he won’t pass it to the other.

“Whoever is on call for that particular week will be manning the station, and then the other individual will be working from home. It’s not that we won’t be available, but one of us will be working from home that particular week. Then we will alternate that from week to week,” said Feser.

The fire hall is also closed to the public, so if anyone has enquiries, they are asked to call or email the fire station.