Where there's smoke, there's fire: trainings held in Weyburn

More than 20 firefighters from Stoughton, Estevan, Radville, Yellow Grass, Fillmore, the Local 737 and others participated in a fire training held Saturday and Sunday at the Weyburn Fire Hall.

"We had a great turnout from departments surrounding us. We had everything from rookies right up to Fire Chiefs show up to attend the training," shared Fire Chief Trent Lee. "I think everybody walked away with a little bit of extra knowledge. We introduced some different tools that these departments don't have, and that would be a great resource for them or a great addition to their resources."

Lee said they covered everything from vehicle fires to ladders, ladder rescue, automotive extrication, vehicle fires, container fires, and a firefighter search and rescue within a building on the premises.

"With firefighting, I mean even if you have 20-some years in, there's always something to learn. There's always something to be reminded of. There are new techniques, new things always popping up and coming in, that we need to understand and pay attention to, plus get that hands-on practice," commented the Chief. 

The vehicles used during these exercises are thanks to "a great working relationship with Southside Auto Wreckers", who provide vehicles for the valuable practice of rescuing people from burning or crushed vehicles.

"We use we have battery-operated hydraulic rescue tools that we use to gain access to the occupant compartment of the vehicles, plus we have different types of hand tools that we can use as well."

Lee shared why, even after 25 years of being a firefighter, he values these pieces of training so much.

"I love getting out to the training grounds and passing on my skills and knowledge as well as running through the scenarios myself," he told. "Not all the time do you have a full crew, and not all the time does the Chief get to have that luxury of standing back and just organizing whatever type of situation and response that's necessary."

He added, "we could have the misfortune of having several calls from at the same time and having short hands just a couple of people on the scene just trying to mediate those emergency responses, so it's always great to get out there and run through my skill sets and have a hands-on training session as well."

The Fire Chief said he is in the midst of writing a proposal for a fire training center in Weyburn, which, given the nature of the profession, would benefit more than just our local economy.

Check out this gallery taken during the weekend's events: