ESTEVAN - Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) members responded to a couple of calls and partook in a public event on Sunday.
The first call for service came in at about 11:30 a.m. A concerned resident called the RCMP about a cat stuck in the tree. The call was then redirected to the EFRS, who responded to it as non-emergent.
"A concerned individual had brought their feline to the dog park and the cat became agitated and scared and climbed up a tree. A lot of attempts were unsuccessful in bringing the cat down. So they did call RCMP who eventually ended up getting ahold of us to go down to the area and offer assistance. So crews did respond non-emergent and located the cat. After a little bit of coaxing we were successful in getting the cat down the tree," said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
Later in the afternoon, seven EFRS members partook in a Special Olympics versus emergency services charity baseball game.
"We really enjoyed and loved to be part of that," Feser said.
Despite the smoke and extreme heat, the two games, one against the Special Olympics youth athletes and one with Special Olympics adults, turned out really well. Estevan RCMP, Estevan Police Service and Estevan Emergency Medical Services partook in two games as well. There also was a fundraising barbecue going on at the same time and all emergency services had vehicles on display for the athletes and their families to tour.
Another call for service for the fire department came in at 8 p.m.
"We were called to a residential fire alarm that was occurring in the city there. Just prior to arrival on scene it was found that it was a cooking-related fire alarm. Crews still did attend the scene non-emergent to find that there wasn't enough smoke in the home to warrant any ventilation on behalf of the fire department. So all crews were stood down and returned to the station," Feser said.
Feser also wished the farming community a successful harvest and reminded them about fire safety measures in the fields.
"(To) our local area farmers, ranchers and producers that are either going to be out there swathing, bailing hay for their livestock or the farmers out there right now that are starting an early harvest, we want to wish them all the best for a safe harvest.
"We want to make sure that they're aware that we are still in extreme fire danger indexing. So if at all possible, they want to make sure that they're greasing their machinery on a regular basis so that we don't have any issues with hot bearings and make sure that they have water or fire extinguishers on board.
"Should (a fire) occur, don't hesitate to call 911. It's always easier to just call us down rather than coming out there late and next thing you know we have a loss of machinery and an entire field, spreading to other fields or possibly homesteads," Feser said.
Feser added that having some kind of ground tilling equipment such as double-discers or harrows out in the fields that are being harvested during such dry and hot days is also a good idea.
