BALGONIE — Like many rural communities across Saskatchewan, Balgonie relies on volunteer firefighters — residents who leave work, home or family responsibilities behind to respond when emergencies happen.
The Balgonie Fire Department consists of 28 members who serve the community on their own time.
“We do this because we want to. Our volunteers don't get paid an hourly. They don't receive a lot of money for this work,” said Balgonie Fire Chief Doug Lapchuk.
Lapchuk himself became a volunteer firefighter following in his father’s footsteps.
“My father was one of the founders of the White City Fire Department. At that time, I think there were 200 people in White City.”
Many members of Balgonie’s fire department work during weekdays, which means the local fire hall can remain empty until a call comes in.
When a call is received, Lapchuk said whoever is available heads straight to the fire hall.
“We get suited up and determine which trucks are going because it could be a grass fire, it could be a structure, it could be a rescue, it could be just medical.
"Our average response time from time of alarm to rolling out the door is about 10 to 12 minutes.”
If members of Balgonie Fire are unavailable, Lapchuk said the department has mutual-aid agreements with neighbouring communities.
“We have a mutual aid agreement with White City, Emerald Park, Pilot Butte and the Village of Edenwold. If we get something big and it's 2 p.m., and I don't think we have the personnel, I'll bring in other departments to assist us.”
Staying in shape
Since all members of Balgonie’s fire department are volunteers, Lapchuk said training is constant to ensure firefighters remain ready.
“We go through it chapter by chapter in the firefighters' book, and we slowly build up our training and get our knowledge.”
Lapchuk noted the physical demands volunteer firefighters encounter, especially because they do not perform these tasks daily.
“We don't do this for a living, and that's why the biggest killer of all your fighters is cardiac, because we don't train to do this every day. We don't drag hoses every day.”
During a call, Lapchuk said every member is going “100 miles an hour,” which can lead to firefighters pushing themselves too far.
“We actually have members who get gassed out after 15 or 20 minutes because they push themselves too hard.”
Lapchuk said firefighter safety remains a priority during emergency responses.
“You have to watch yourself, you have to pace yourself. We have rehab set up where some of our medical people will monitor our firefighters, make sure they're taking a break, getting hydrated, checking their blood pressure, everything like that.”
Service requests
In a typical year, Balgonie’s fire department responds to about 120 calls.
Lapchuk said the number of calls can vary significantly from week to week.
“We can go two or three days without a call, but we have had days where we've had three or four calls in one day, and then we've had a week of absolutely nothing.”
Lapchuk said medical emergencies make up a large portion of the department’s calls.
“As medical first responders, we get sent out before the ambulance gets there. We do a large number of calls within our town.”
Other calls involve collisions, grass fires and structure fires.
Despite responding to more than 100 calls annually, Lapchuk said it is unlikely Balgonie will have full-time firefighter services in the near future because of the cost.
“It's approximated that if you were to staff a hall with one chief and one full-time deputy, and everybody else has what's called a paid-on-call, where they're paid to be on call and respond, your budget starts anywhere from 1.5 to 1.9 million just for personnel, and that's a hard hit for small communities.”
Instead, Lapchuk believes small communities could eventually move toward regional centralized fire halls over the next decade.
“You would have one central hall that is manned, and then everybody else remains as a volunteer and supplements the manned, if you will, the full-time department.”
Without volunteer firefighters, Lapchuk said many Saskatchewan communities would struggle to afford emergency protection.
“If it weren't for the volunteers willing to step up, people in this province couldn't afford fire insurance, there wouldn't be the protection, there wouldn't be the roadside protection, there wouldn't be the extrication, the rescue, everything like that. To simply state it without sounding egotistical, without having our volunteers doing this work, nobody would be doing it.”
Lapchuk said anyone interested in joining the town’s firefighter service can reach out through the town’s website.
