A recent house fire in the village of Beatty is highlighting the issue of fighting fires in small communities.
Most rural towns and villages don’t have fire hydrants as their water systems can’t support them.
The Melfort Fire Department covers a large area of rural farms and communities and has brought in new equipment to help fight fires in these areas. A new truck, water tanker, and portable pond have been added to the inventory.
Assistant Fire Chief Doug Walsh says the new equipment has removed the risk of running out of water.
“We’ll set up [the portable pond] beside our pumper truck and we’ll dump the 2,000 gallons of water into the pond,” Walsh told CTV News. “Then this tanker can go back to the city or to a static water source.”
Walsh says roughly half of their calls are from rural areas where fire fighters would need to haul water in.
On Monday morning the Melfort Fire Department responded to a house fire in Beatty. They took three trips to haul in 6,000 gallons of water - but because of the pond they never ran low.
Although the pond can help with efficiency on scene, it still takes time to respond to a call. Walsh is encouraging people to call for help early rather than waiting for the fire to get out of control.
He says every minute makes a difference, especially in rural areas.
