Meota fire district goes state of the art

The RM of Meota, Village of Meota and Resort Village of Metinota have a spanking new state-of-the-art fire truck and they are building a new fire hall to house it.

The new Meota and District Fire Department will have four vehicles, including a pumper, a water tanker and a command van, but the new rapid response vehicle will be the star of the lineup. Smaller and faster than a regular fire engine, it can go places and do things a big fire truck cannot.

At a sod-turning ceremony Monday in Meota, the new truck was on display, as was the groundwork being done for a new 50-foot by 100-foot fire hall. The current fire hall is barely large enough to accommodate the three vehicles the department already has.

Glen Wouters, mayor of the Resort Village of Metinota and member of the six-person committee tasked with coming up with a fire protection plan to serve the district, opened the remarks at the sod-turning ceremony.

He said there was a desire amongst the three municipalities to do something substantial to address fire protection. The rented fire hall was being outgrown and new equipment was needed. The committee and councils came back with a seven-year plan, he said, the end of which will see not only a new hall and another truck, but yet another new fire truck and a new command vehicle.

With a clear purpose and a clear plan, the committee got on well, Wouters said. He added Fire Chief Gil Cadrin and the 17-member volunteer fire department were helpful in giving the committee direction, especially when it came to obtaining the new rapid response vehicle. Referring to co-operation among the communities in building a new lagoon and improving the water system, as well as the new fire hall and truck, Wouters said, "the team we have here makes us a first around the lake." He added, "We're proud of what we've achieved working together."

On the committee, established in 2013, was Meota mayor John MacDonald and councillor Maurice Gauthier, RM of Meota reeve Wilbert Fennig and councillor Jim Eischen, and Metinota mayor Wouters and councillor Dean Menssa.

Larry Doke, who is a member of the Metinota council, a former North Battleford business owner and the local MLA, took on the role of project manager.

"We were glad to have him," said Wouters. "We were even happier when he said 'I don't want any pay.'"

McDonald said there were numerous meetings of the council, which sought information from other fire departments and travelled to other communities to visit their fire halls. All this information was brought back to their respective councils for approval, he said, adding, "Here we are today with a new rapid response fire truck and a sod turning for the new fire hall."

He said it was made possible by the co-operation of everybody involved.

"We now are where we hoped to be."

Wilbert said it was a pleasure working with the other two municipalities to come up with a state-of-the-art fire department that will benefit the whole community.

The RM, where most of the fires occur, said Fennig, will be taking on 60 per cent of the cost of the plan, while the Village of Meota will pay 30 per cent and Metinota will take on 10 per cent.

Fennig also thanked the "big donors." The Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Community Development Corporation was on hand to present a cheque for $41,500 and Richardson Pioneer presented a cheque for $30,000. Fennig thanked them for taking part and showing interest in the project.

The price tag of the overall project is about a half million dollars.

Following the sod turning, the gathering moved to the community hall for a viewing of the blueprints for the hall being built by Lesmeister Construction of North Battleford. Rick Lesmeister was on hand to answer any questions.

Some delayed moving to the hall in order to find out more about the rapid response vehicle, which the fire chief was obviously more than pleased to show off.

The truck was obtained through Coyla J Fire Services of Allan for just under $200,000. The body of the truck was built in Kansas, said Cadrin.

They took delivery of the vehicle Wednesday of last week. As of the sod-turning ceremony, it was still unused.

There are some significant differences between the rapid response vehicle and the typical larger engine, differences that suit the circumstances often faced by the Meota and District Fire Department.

The residential areas of the district are situated on Jackfish Lake. Some of the properties are close together and covered with trees. To get into those areas is a challenge, said Cadrin. The smaller size as well as the speed of the new truck is a better solution.

On the rear of the truck is a 100-foot hose reel that, at the punch of a button, can be rewound electrically. That will be useful in those lakeside situations as well, he said, because they can recover the hoses and move to another area far more quickly than with the big truck.

The rear hose will also be efficient for vehicle fires.

"You pull it, and you're fighting fires fast."

Everybody used to think you need a big fire truck to do the job, said Cadrin, but he's a fan of the new trend toward the smaller, faster, compactly efficient new style.

"This truck will do as much or more than a big fire truck," he said.

It has an air-foam system with a ratio of up to 10 to one water, whereas a regular truck would be only three to one. With a 500-gallon tank on board, said Cadrin, "if used properly it can take you a long way."

Their other truck may hold 900 gallons, but there are too many places it can't go without getting stuck, including fire calls to the RM of Meota.

The RM's reeve, Fennig, was excited about the feature that allows the truck to drive toward a fire, pumping water as it approaches. He pointed out most of the fires in the district are fought in the RM.

Cadrin said water can be sprayed from a nozzle mounted on the front of the vehicle, controlled from inside the cab by a joystick and trigger.

"Once you start up the pump, you can jump in the truck, drive along and blast wherever you want," said Cadrin.

The nozzle can be remotely adjusted from 30 to 90 gallons per minute.

In addition, a firefighter can be harnessed into an operating station on either side of the truck from where they can use a hose and nozzle to spray water or foam. With only two firefighters, the driver to chase it and the person in the harness to fight it, they can attack a fire from alongside, which Cadrin sees as the most common scenario. The firefighter in the harness is attached securely to the vehicle in a cage that can be closed, remaining secure even as the truck may bump along over rough terrain or brake quickly.

"Two guys can do as much as 10 guys," said Cadrin.

While it carries water on board, the truck is also fitted so it can "draft" from a slough or lake as well as hook up to a hydrant.

It is also fitted with an air compressor for the air foam system that can also be used for air-powered rescue tools. It's also hooked up to the system so that, in the winter, when the fire's out, the lines can all be drained and blown out so they don't freeze up.

There are even heaters for the operating stations.

"That's our Arctic package," laughed Cadrin,

The truck also comes with tools of the trade to make fighting fires more efficient and safer.

Ready to hand on the side of the vehicle is a "beast," a slide hammer used to make a small hole in the wall or door of a burning building in order to pump foam in, instead of breaking down a door, which only feeds the fire with more oxygen. Once the flames in the entry room are out, firefighters can enter the building more safely, said Cadrin.

"They put a lot of thought into building this thing," said the fire chief, and its effectiveness is in the fact that "it's a simple, straightforward truck."

He doesn't expect the training to use it will be extensive.

"More fine tuning than anything," he said.

Under the hood is a powerful V-10 gas engine.

"It's fast," said Cadrin. "That's why they call it rapid response."