Altona/Rhineland Emergency Services on track to match 2022 calls for service

The fire chief for Altona/Rhineland Emergency Services (ARES) is looking back on another positive year for the volunteer department. 

As of the beginning of December, the department was on track to match 2022's number of calls for service at 80. As of interview time, members had logged a total of 129 hours for incident response. There was, however, a difference in the kind of calls crews responded to.

"Last year, we'd actually had more structure fires than what we've had this year," said Greg Zimmerman. "Fortunately, we haven't had any major events."

Receiving the highest calls for service was motor vehicle incidents/fires coming in at 28 for the year. That number, added Zimmerman, includes farm implements in the field that occasionally catch fire. 

Meantime, members had dedicated 67 hours to training in 2023 as of the start of December. 

"Our training officer, Jordan, has been really good during the spring, summer and fall months of getting the crew out to the training grounds. We've been going over scenarios and live fires out there with them," explained Zimmerman. 

2023 also saw a new batch officers get promoted from within, and their training will begin in January. 

Additionally, a group of members are currently completing their Level 1 firefighting course, and Zimmerman is gearing up to instruct Level 2 training across the department. 

"The Fire Commissioner is issued, basically a play book, and has determined the types of fires you can fight based on your level of training. And in order to fight all fires, you have to be at the Level 2 mark," he explained. "We don't want to get a department that's fractured, where you only have half a department that can fight all of the fires and the other half can only fire certain fires. It's a little hard to keep track of on the fire ground."

Meantime, the Pembina Triangle Mutual Aid District, of which ARES is a member of, purchased an inflatable safety house to use as a new public education tool.

"This is something we can actually take to the schools and set up inside the gym. It can also be set up outside in nice weather," explained Zimmerman. "It's just an inflatable house that the children walk through. It's set up like a house with kitchen and bedroom areas and when we go to make an evacuation, if they don't run out the door, they get to jump out the bedroom window and there's a bounce pad on the other side."

He noted, the fire fighters are looking forward to setting it up and putting it into use.