ESTEVAN - Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) members responded to four calls on Tuesday.
At about 12:30 p.m. two vehicles collided at the intersection of Thirteenth Avenue and Fifth Street. One of the vehicles came to rest against the traffic light stand. Airbags deployed, but the driver was able to get out of the vehicle on their own and had no injuries.
Firefighters neutralized and isolated batteries to prevent any further airbag deployment, and ensured there were no other electrical hazards.
"The other vehicle had been released from the scene already by Estevan city police. We provided a system of traffic control and then released the scene back to Estevan city police to further investigate the cause of the collision," said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
The next call for service came at about 1.30 p.m. Crews responded to a residential fire alarm. It was found upon arrival that the residents were smoking close to a monitored smoke alarm, which set it off.
"A reminder to all the residents that do have monitored systems, you definitely want to keep any smoking activities away from any detection heads to avoid any premature or unwanted smoke alarms from occurring," Feser said.
At about 3.30 p.m. crews headed out to a field west of Benson, where a combine caught on fire. Farmer managed to contain the fire and protect the surrounding environment.
"Quick thinking actions of the farmer that (helped) prevent any spread to the fields. He relocated the machinery to a summer fallow field and then got another tractor while we're responding and cut some fire guards around the combine that was on fire. We're able to get in and extinguish the fire without incident," Feser said.
It appeared that the hydraulic line rapture ignited the fire. Feser assumed that the combine will be a total loss.
Once crews headed back toward Estevan, they received another call for service from a location just a kilometre down the road in the RM of Benson. This time a fire started in a field.
"We were able to be on scene within minutes of being dispatched and brought the fire under control and extinguished it without incident. The cause of this particular fire was a flyer stack that had some of its contents and hot fluids and flame blowing out due to the wind conditions and have started the vegetation on fire," Feser said.
The fire occurred in a pasture, so no livestock, crop or buildings were at risk.
Tuesday for the EFRS came to an end with three-hour training that saw volunteer firefighters practising in vertical and horizontal ventilation operations for roofs on homes.
