The Weyburn Fire Department recently got a new addition to the fleet, and this week, was able to take it out for some training while conducting some wildland fire training. The new wildland fire truck and utility truck were out for some training exercises just outside of the city. 

“That is something we never had before,” said Fire Chief Trent Lee of the wildland fire truck. “We built it in-house, and scraped and plated it, and pulled in lots of favours to get people to help us build it, and it worked absolutely fantastic.” 

Training for wildland fires has been a priority as of late for the Weyburn Fire Department, as this is the time of year that wildfires are more likely to occur. Getting the training, especially with the new truck, is important, according to Lee, as they never know what kind of emergency they could get called to in the countryside, or even in a park space within the city limits.  

This is also the time of year when controlled burns are conducted by agricultural producers in the area.  

For those burns, Lee is reminding everyone that a call to the provincial hotline at 866-404-4911 is needed before a burn is done. 

“When you call them, they will take all your information – your land location, the phone number, and all that kind of good information that is required,” Lee explained. “Should a call come in, then they will contact you before they dispatch the fire department to ensure that it is still a controlled burn, and if the fire department is required.”