Deployment
For Morden Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief Tim Reimer, it was an easy decision to pack up and go to Flin Flon last Tuesday to help fight the fires threatening the mining community, stating, "First and foremost, it's what we do."
The assignment, once the team from Morden arrived there with Morden's tanker, was water support, value protection, and also the extinguishment of fires within the area outside of the city. They provided water shuttling service to other fire trucks, filled portable water tanks, and also extinguished fires with it.
The learning curve
Reimer noted, "In the South, we have what's known as grass and field fires," adding, "Bush fires up North, and wildland firefighting is completely different."
"The trees and the ground surface itself are completely different than what we have here, so it takes quite a bit more to extinguish. The fire spreads differently there. The ground is basically a peat Moss base. Years of composting material basically just turn the ground into a peat moss that's a couple of feet deep. The fire burns within it, so it can surface anywhere, making it difficult to extinguish. The setup is a whole different learning experience, considering what we have here."
What about the animals?
While evacuees are the main focus, many have been concerned about conditions for the animals.
"As far as the wildlife goes, we had, we called them little town mascots, two little foxes running around the command area and the firehall, so they added a little bit of enjoyment and peace in the area. Not only the residents of the homes, but the wildlife in the surrounding area, their homes too were jeopardized, and I guess they too have to be evacuated, so they took it upon themselves, and there was very little wildlife in the area."
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Northern Hospitality
With the community evacuated, all that remained were firefighters and law enforcement.
Reimer said the hospitality was awesome, saying the heroes that don't get noticed are the people like the owner of the Coop grocery store and the Chicken Chef Restaurant, who are feeding those who are there to fight the fires.
He said this helped tremendously. "The guys need to be not only hydrated but also need to be fueled up, just like our equipment needs to be fueled up."
Appreciation for camaraderie with other firefighters
Reimer said it was a good learning experience, and he hopes what they did up there helps the situation.
"While we were up there, the number of firefighters and the amount of equipment that is donated from communities all over Manitoba is tremendous. Talking with a lot of the guys, they haven't been at work for a number of days. Throughout the province, communities that are lending support, it's really good how everybody's coming together and businesses are letting their staff go to assist with this and the communities sending up their equipment to go help with this, they're leaving their communities to go in and assist and that shows the true community support."
The following gallery was submitted by Eugene Fillion of other deployments to Flin Flon and Cross Lake.