Waskatenau Fire Hall 5008- 50st

















Smoky Lake Fire Department
At May meetings and practices members trained on donning and doffing structure and wildfire firefighting gear
making sure members are wearing the gear properly and protected at all times. Fire crews cleaned and checked all
trucks and equipment from all the calls the department has attended in May.
Smoky Lake Fire Department welcomed 3 new members Billy Andriuk, Brice Andrychuk and Jason Mercier.
Smoky Lake Fire Department sent 3 firefighters to Fort McMurray for 3 Days to help out with the firefighting.
Unit 405 pump mode was broken on a call due to operator error and was fixed at the County Shop.
5 members attended the Alberta Fire Chiefs Conference in Calgary.
Vilna Fire Department
At May meetings and practices members cleaned and checked all trucks and equipment from all the calls the
department has attended to in May.
Vilna Fire Department welcomed 1 new member Harrison Bull.
Unit 419 plastic tank cracked and was plastic welded back together at the County shop.
3 members attended the Alberta Fire Chiefs Conference in Calgary.
Waskatenau Fire Department
Waskatenau Fire Department held their Annual Fire Meeting on May 17 with no changes to the executive: Don Rosa
– Fire Chief, Casey Caron – Deputy Fire Chief, Colette Caron - Secretary/Treasurer and Dianna Elgert – Casino
Chairperson.
Also discussed at the meeting Waskatenau Fire Department and the Waskatenau Ag Society will be hosting a street
dance at Waskatenau Fair Days on Saturday, August 6, 2016 and are working with the Ag Society to build a new gym
in the hockey arena, as well the department will be working a Casino Fundraiser in August.
Waskatenau Fire Department welcomed 2 new members Alex Kotylak and Tommy Rosa to the Department.
At May’s practice members went through the trucks and equipment with the new members and trained on pump
operations.
Smoky Lake County Emergency Services
Dealing with Alberta Environment in regards to a collision involving a semi and the release of liquid fertilizer into the
ditch.
Monitoring the 2 wildfires (North of Kaduk Lake and Victoria Trail) that are surrounded by fire guards.
The Fire Ban was downgraded to a Fire Restriction on May 20 and downgraded to a Fire Advisory on May 27
Please check Albertafirebans.ca or smokylakecounty.ab.ca for the latest information.
Vilna Fire Department
Fire Meetings: June 7 and
June 21 @ 7:30 pm
Smoky Lake Fire Department
Fire Meetings: June 13 and
June 27 @ 7:30 pm
Waskatenau Fire Department
Fire Meeting: June 8 @
7:30 pm
Upcoming Training & Events:
May 29 – June 1 Alberta Fire Chiefs Conference in Calgary.
August 9 – Fire Protectives Services Committee Meeting.
September 9 – Regional Fire and Rescue Committee Meeting.
Smoky Lake 2016
Fires
Medical
Assists
Motor Vehicle
Collisions
Fire Alarms
Other
Total
Smoky Lake May
Vilna 2016
Vilna May
Waskatenau 2016
Waskatenau May
9
6
Fires
Medical Assists
4
0
Fires
Medical Assists
16
12
Fires
Medical Assists
4
1
Fires
Medical Assists
0
4
6
Motor Vehicle
Collisions
Fire Alarms
Other
Total
0
Motor Vehicle
Collisions
Fire Alarms
Other
Total
4
Motor Vehicle
Collisions
Fire Alarms
Other
Total
1
Motor Vehicle
Collisions
Fire Alarms
Other
Total
2
5
5
31
2
6
8
0
40
2
0
8
1
1
8
Fires
Medical
Assists
Motor Vehicle
Collisions
Fire Alarms
Other
Total
0
0
0
0
0
Message From The Fire Chief
With dry hot weather for the most of May I would like to
thank the fire crews for the dedication and commitment to your
fire department as you guys worked long hours and gave up your
weekends to fight the wildfires in Smoky Lake County.
Thank You,
Scott Franchuk
Waskatenau Fire Hall 5008- 50st
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
Alberta Fire Chiefs Conference
Calgary (May 29 – June 1)
Sunday May 29
The Conference started off with opening ceremonies and the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association Committee
welcoming the delegates, a welcoming from the City of Calgary Fire Chief Steve Dongworth and the conference
layout was explained to the delegates.
The rest of the day allowed delegates to attend the start of the trade show and start networking with other
fire departments.
Monday May 30
The trade show was opened all day allowing delegates a chance to talk to the vendors and see the new
products coming out as well order any equipment the departments need. Outside of the trade show fire truck
manufactures displayed their fire trucks they build as well trucks that were built for fire departments in
Alberta.
Tuesday May 29
Recruitment and Retention Update
An update on “Answer the Call Advertising” and “I Support Volunteer Firefighters Campaign” is going well but all
volunteer fire departments are still hurting for members to join fire departments.
Alberta First Responders Radio Communication Systems
The new radio system was implemented on May 1, 2016 to Alberta Health Services to use and work out the issues that
might come up as well track all dead spots of the new radio communication system. Alberta First Responders Radio
Communication System is being used in Fort McMurray with the wild fire and is working well. The new communication
system will be implemented in all Alberta Health Services units and the RCMP system in the next 3 to 5 year. This system
will be available to all fire departments but the cost for 1 handheld radio is $2,500.00. Small department are going to rely
on grants to implement this system.
Transitional Fire Attack
This session talked about how to complete rescues in structure fires or extinguishing them with limited manpower and
water. The speaker also talked about how to fight structure fires to lower the temperatures inside the structure, allowing
victims a chance to survive and firefighters to gain access inside. Also, how to control and limit the spread of the fire
from the outside of the structure using small amounts of water this allows crews to complete the rescue or have lots of
water to retreat out of the structure, if conditions of the fire change and become too dangerous to firefighters to be
inside the building.
Premier Rachel Notley Address
Premier Rachel Notley addressed the delegates by thanking them for the efforts and dedication to help out Fort
McMurray, as well, for the work we do for our communities. Premier Notley provided an updated on what was
happening in Fort McMurray and how the Government supports the rebuild in the community.
Fire Service Leadership
Fire Chief Steve Dongworth from Calgary Fire Department spoke “on how the small things matter”; just talking to the fire
department members or helping out around the fire hall and recognizing members for their hard work and efforts
towards the fire department. Fire Chief Steve Dongworth left us will a very powerful quote about leadership “If you think
the job is beneath you, you are not a leader.”
Saving Those Who Save Others
This session talked about breaking the stigma around emergency services of “suck it up” or “I thought you were tough”
attitudes, to how can we help members deal with incidents, Post-Traumatic Stress and depression recognition. We
talked about signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress and suicidal people. The speaker is a retired firefighter and
talked about having a support group available for the members to go to if they want and making sure the councillors and
support group have some background knowledge of what firefighters do. The first support group created for their
department, 2 of the councillors passed out when the firefighters were talking about what they saw and did on scene so
making sure the support group can handle the situations is key as well. In 2016 so far 39 firefighters and 11
paramedics/EMTs have committed suicide.
Wednesday June 1
Creating the Thinking Firefighter
Dr. Richard Gasaway is a retired firefighter that now works with training fire departments the right way. Dr. Gasaway
talked about how we trained firefighters to do and not to think before you do. In training scenarios firefighters have their
masks blacked out and sent into a building to complete blind searches, on fire scenes if the smoke is so thick you cannot
see anything why are we sending firefighters into the building, because in the past we trained them to do - not think. The
fire service is all about situational awareness and creating new habits of thinking before doing.