The Moose Jaw Fire Department has been in the spotlight a few times over the past month, highlighting some of the services that personnel here in the Friendly City are trained to provide outside of their fire-fighting expertise.
On Sept. 14, MJFD rescued a fawn that had fallen into a crevice near Skipton Road in Wakamow Valley, utilizing its training in trench rescue — just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the differing rescue techniques the department is certified to do.
“People in the public know that when they call 911 for a fire or any other type of incident, the fire department will respond to assist,” said deputy fire chief Mike Russell. “But what many people don’t know is that over the course of time, and more so today than ever, firefighters in the fire department have now become what we call a ‘jack of all.’”
Firefighters in the local department are diverse and trained in a lot of different skills, said Russell, many of which the community likely don’t think about when they picture the MJFD.
The MJFD, of course, handles all of the expected duties of a municipal fire department — including responding to calls about fires, false alarms, carbon monoxide alerts and attending vehicle accidents to aid police and paramedics on scene.
But the MJFD is also trained in hazardous material response, which means members can help with chemical spills or any situations involving hazmat leaks, and Moose Jaw firefighters attend emergency first aid courses to be able to assist EMS in emergency situations.
Moose Jaw firefighters are also highly trained in other technical rescue specialties, including confined space rescue, ice and water rescue, elevator rescue and the previously mentioned trench rescue.
The department is capable of performing high-angle rope rescues, which is when people are in need of rescue from a high place like a grain elevator, and low-angle rope rescue, or when people are in need of rescue in low places like the bottom of a steep embankment.
And in their spare time? MJFD members are always working on fire prevention inspections and education, and often make appearances at events in a publicity capacity to stay connected with the community.
“These are the things that our firefighters are out in the community doing, providing a service to the people,” said Russell. “When people think of firefighters, it's become more than just fires and firefighting [and] we’re blessed here in Moose Jaw to have crews that are highly trained in all aspects.”
MJFD also works in close partnerships with other emergency response agencies, regularly working with the Moose Jaw Police, RCMP and Moose Jaw & District Emergency Medical Services, like the support role the department played during the recent cougar incident at the end of September, lighting the scene on Redland Avenue. MJFD also works with outside agencies as well.
“We do a lot of training here with things like hazmat, with some of the pipeline crews that come through the city. We do a lot of gas training,” added Russell. “CP Rail is a large organization in our community and we do a lot of stuff with regards to rail and rail cars as well.”
But all of this expertise comes with a large amount of training, said Russell, usually on top of the standard requirements for the job. Firefighters must keep their training certifications up to date, to national and international standards, and often take part in night school during overnight shifts.
“We train on a daily basis here, between answering fire calls, doing maintenance around the stations and being out in the public,” said Russell. “Training is continuous, it never takes a day off, and they’re expected to know their jobs as professionals and be able to meet those standards on a regular basis.”
Russell has full confidence in the capabilities of the MJFD, and he encourages members of the community to trust the fire department to answer all calls with an elevated measure of expertise.
“We’re often the ones that, if people don’t know who to call, they call us. [It’s important] to be confident in the resources we’re lucky enough to have here, and I think most people are and are aware of that,” said Russell. “Every day, we come to do our job and we hope that we’re doing a good job and providing the best quality service we can to the people of Moose Jaw.”
