ESTEVAN - A fire alarm went off at the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) last Wednesday morning, right before the beginning of the classes.
Estevan's fire department responded to the call. Upon arrival, it was quickly found that one of the sprinkler heads was initiated inside the school.
"There was no smoke or flame that were visible. Crews did get in and found where the sprinkler head was leaking. There was maintenance staff on site. It was found that there was a malfunction in the boiler room area with ... heat exchanging units, which brought the temperature up to the point where it activated a sprinkler head," said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
"However, no fire was present. We assisted with isolating the branch lights, stopping the flow of water and draining the residual water out so that way a crew could make the necessary repairs."
ECS was initially evacuating the building, but firefighters were able to quickly downgrade the situation and still allow all the students and teachers access to the building.
There was no disruption to classes, and the school was able to quickly inform all staff and parents that there was no emergency. Once the scene was cleared, the school returned to business as normal.
This Monday at about 4 a.m. fire crews also responded to a commercial fire alarm, that went off southeast of the city at the Shand greenhouse. Fire crews arrived on scene and, assisted by Shand Power Generation staff, accessed the building.
"The fire alarm detection head was active, however, there was no visible smoke or flame, showing from the exterior of the building. Crews went in to assess the situation inside and found no cause for alarm, no fire conditions were present. So it looks like this was a faulty detection device that was the cause of the alarm," Feser said.
The scene was turned back over to the SaskPower staff, and firefighters returned to the station.
Earlier last week, the Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) partook in two public education engagement activities. Last Monday, firefighters visited Estevan Day Care Co-operative to educate younger citizens about fire safety.
"We had a fire truck on display. A couple of firefighters and the deputy fire chief went down to give kids a tour on the fire truck just to show them what it's about," Feser said.
Last Tuesday, firefighters went to Mary's Little Lambs Preschool, where they made two presentations.
"We went over some fire safety with our young preschoolers to teach them some basics, like stop-drop-and-roll and then give them some fire-related public education colouring pages that they can take home and share with their families," Feser said.
"It's always nice to get out and engage with the young individuals. It's always a great time."
Last Wednesday afternoon, the fire department was also handing out rapid COVID-19 antigen test kits. While quite a few people came to pick up their kits, Feser said they had some left, and this Wednesday, Dec. 1, from 1:30-4 p.m., they again will provide the tests to the community on a first come, first serve basis while supplies last.
