ESTEVAN — The Estevan Fire Rescue Service had a steadily busy end to 2022 and a quieter beginning to 2023.
The EFRS responded to a two-vehicle collision on the west end of Estevan on Dec. 20. Estevan police and EMS were already on scene. The incident appeared to be a minor collision with minor injuries to one of the drivers. EPS took care of cleaning up the scene, so firefighters stood down.
The next day saw fire crews responding to three calls for service. At about 7 a.m. they were called to a residential fire alarm going off in a townhouse area in east Estevan. The alarm was triggered in a vacant, up-for-sale suite.
"We worked with the EPS to gain access to that suite. Crews went in and inspected for any smoke, fire or carbon monoxide issues. Nothing was found so we determined that it was probably a faulty alarm there," explained Estevan Fire Chief Rick Davies.
The next call came at about 3 p.m. when crews were alerted to a possible vehicle fire on the east side of the city. Neither firefighters nor police could find any vehicles on fire, so crews were stood down.
As they were returning to the station, a residential fire alarm went off in the same area. The homeowner met firefighters at the scene, and it was quickly determined that the alarm was malfunctioning.
On Dec. 23, crews were dispatched to another alarm, going off in an apartment complex on the south side of the city. The system for the entire building was activated, but an investigation showed there was no emergency occurring. The panel was reset, and crews stood down.
The next day at about 8:30 p.m., crews were dispatched to a commercial fire alarm in the north-central part of the city. When they arrived, they found a water leak in the building that caused the alarm to go off. The building maintenance staff was contacted to try to fix that issue.
Christmas Day at about 7 a.m., firefighters responded to a commercial fire alarm in central Estevan. Once they gained access to the building, they found a broken sprinkler leaking water that triggered the alarm. Crews managed to get all that tied up and cleaned up, and they notified building management before clearing the scene.
A carbon monoxide alarm went off in a residence on the north side of Estevan on Dec. 27. Crews responded and assisted in identifying what the issue was and instructed the homeowner to contact a contractor to fix the problem.
The new year started with three minor calls on Jan. 3-4, which were almost instantly cleared as they didn't require the EFRS's assistance.
