This past month has been a blissfully quiet one for your department, especially welcome since many of us have been away enjoying an always too-short summer.
- Shortly after 9 pm on July 24 a call came in of a watercraft in distress on Gull Lake. Several members raced to the boat launch area of Stoner's Landing on the west side of the lake, while sending for Lacombe Fire Department to assist with their rescue boat. One member arranged to meet the Parks crew with their boat from Aspen Beach. The boat in distress was located with binoculars from Stoner's Landing and the family in the boat was contacted by cell phone. A non-life-threatening situation was confirmed and Lacombe was stood down. The boat had been run out of gas, so the Parks crew towed them back to shore. This can be a VERY expensive ride, so please think of someone you can call to tow you or bring you gas before you decide to call 911 for a non-emergency!
- On August 5 at 11:22 am six members were sent to a call of a gas leak in a Bentley alley. Crews had been working nearby and accidentally punctured a gas line. Firefighters evacuated the areas nearby and monitored the gas levels while awaiting ATCO crews. The scene was then left in ATCO's care.
- At 1:55 pm on August 10 six members responded to an alarms ringing call at a Bentley residence near the schools. There have been several alarms calls there in the past and the resident met the crews at the door mentioning it was a false alarm due to a cooking incident. We would like to remind homeowners to please monitor your phones so the alarm company can contact you after an alarm has been triggered. This may prevent emergency crews having to be sent out unnecessarily.
- And on August 13 at 10:09 pm crews arrived at a business in town where another alarm was ringing. No smoke was showing at the building's exterior and when the key holder arrived the interior was inspected and monitored with the TIC (thermal imaging camera). It had been a hot day and the building was very warm and had triggered the sensitive detector. This was also ruled a false alarm.