Your fire department has been kept busy again this past month with ten emergencies:
- On August 25 at 9:29 pm members were called to a Bentley residence where the occupant had received burns to the hand from an outdoor fire pit. The affected hand was kept on ice while awaiting the arrival of EMS and the situation was turned over to them.
- At 5:59 pm on August 27 crews raced toward Sunbreaker Cove where a young child had been hit by a boat's prop, sustaining serious leg injuries. Traffic was stopped while firefighters established a STARS landing zone on Rainy Creek Road.
- At 10:03 in the morning on August 29 seven members were sent to a Bentley home to assist EMS in loading a patient for a trip to the hospital.
- On September 1 at 10:11 pm crews attended an MVA involving a truck colliding with a moose calf on Rainy Creek Road. The driver of the truck was checked over by EMS and received a clean bill of health; the moose was not so lucky.
- Over the supper hour on September 6 a report came in of an outside fire in Sunbreaker Cove. A County-wide burn ban was in place at the time so firefighters were sent to the area to investigate. The area was searched but no fire was discovered so crews returned to the hall.
- Shortly after this call another report was received regarding the same outside fire. This time the location of Birchcliffe was given. This summer village borders Sunbreaker Cove and the fire was discovered to be landowners burning a large pile of brush in a cleared area. Interestingly, the burn ban did not apply to the Birchcliffe area and the owners were in possession of a valid burn permit so the BFD left the scene in their care.
- On September 7 at 10:51 am a call of alarms ringing sent members to the Bentley Care Centre. The power outage had apparently triggered the alarm and the fire department was stood down en route.
- Shortly before 8 am on September 8 ten members responded to a structure fire at a large greenhouse on Range Road 28-3 southeast of Bentley. As a large building was involved Blackfalds FD also responded as Mutual Aid. Upon arrival it was discovered the fire had extinguished itself so Blackfalds was stood down. Fortunately no one had been injured and the tomato crop was not badly affected but an investigation into the cause was conducted.
- Later that same morning another alarms call was received, this time at the Bentley School. Crews were immediately informed the alarm had accidentally been set off and were stood down.
- About 1:30 pm on September 10 eleven members were sent to Gull Lake Village, where an antique refrigerator being moved from a shed had leaked noxious fumes into the small closed area, sickening the resident. Canutec was contacted to determine the likely type of refrigerant and EMS was informed before assessing and treating the patient. Firefighters donned their breathing apparatus and moved the old appliance outdoors and the homeowner was advised to have it repaired.
- Another alarms call came in at 5 pm on September 12, this time at a rural residence east of Bentley. This was ruled a false alarm and crews were stood down.
- On September 16 at 8:25 pm thirteen members responded to an MVA on Woody Nook Road, just south of Aspelund Road. A southbound vehicle had crossed Aspelund Road, hit the gravel and lost control, travelling in the grassy ditch along a plank fence before flipping over top and into the field on the other side. Miraculously the car's two occupants were not badly injured and both were out of the vehicle when firefighters arrived. The BFD Rescue truck helpfully provided scene lighting to assist RCMP and the collision analyst with their investigations.