With outdoor water restrictions now behind us, Airdrie Fire Chief Mike Pirie reflected on how the Airdrie Fire Department (AFD) was able to deal with the limitations.
When speaking to DiscoverAirdrie, Pirie believes that, as a department, they handled it the best they could.
"We integrated into the emergency management system. Our water services team did a brilliant job of educating us on the real risk to firefighting operations, which was essentially the system itself, it was not at risk for us to do our day-to-day work, it just could be taxed if we had a large event."
Restrictions were officially lifted on Sunday, September 22, after being back in place for almost a month due to the Bearspaw south feeder main repairs.
Pirie explained that they attended several fires during water restrictions, but we could do what they usually do when dealing with a fire.
"What we modified was things like we stopped hydrant testing, hose testing, and training with water. We were able to shut down all of our high-use water items. I think that helped to contribute to our ability to maintain our normal day-to-day."
Having good relationships with surrounding fire departments also helped out during the time of water restrictions. Pirie went on to talk about how there are some lingering effects because of the restrictions.
"We did have to postpone a lot of our training that uses water, which means we have a backlog going into next spring, but we do have a plan to get caught up, so it won't require any drastic changes on our part."
Hydrant testing was able to get done before the second set of restrictions was set in place.
"We had to put off hose testing, a pump course and an aerial course, so we'll get caught up in the spring on those."
Pirie is thankful for the support he received from the city when trying to figure out what they could and could not do.
"The water services team and the infrastructure team did an awesome job of explaining the risks to the fire department."
Calgary has two minor pipe sections along Memorial Drive in Parkdale that need to be repaired in October and November in the coming weeks. Since they can isolate these areas while maintaining the feeder main operational, these repairs will be significantly less extensive and won't necessitate water restrictions for the entire region.
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