WHISKERS AND WINE
MCLEOD SERIES
Fundraiser a success A3
Thrilling games in Estevan A9
Issue 43
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Fire strikes Sanjel’s former Estevan building By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
Members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service spent the bulk of the day on Friday contending with a fire at the former Sanjel building in north Estevan. The fire department was called to the fire at around 8 a.m. While it didn’t take long to contain the fire, the firefighters didn’t finish at the scene until late Friday afternoon, due to some of the challenges posed by the fire. They also had to contend with the very frigid conditions that day, particularly in the morning. Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters established suppression efforts to contain the fire to the area of origin, which appeared to be an old mechanical maintenance room. “The initial takedown occurred quite quickly, and we were able to contain it, however, there was structural compromise that occurred on the second floor, creating a little bit of a hazard for firefighters to get to and extinguish certain spots,” said Fire Chief Dale Feser. There wasn’t a risk to sur-
The Estevan Fire Rescue Service was called to a fire at Sanjel’s former Estevan location on Friday morning. rounding buildings from the fire, since the former Sanjel building is a large structure on its own on the property line. There also wasn’t a risk to the public, and Feser appreciates that the public respected the barricades set up on Edward Street and Victoria Avenue near the fire location. During the afternoon, the ladder truck had to be used, because the fire extended into the roofline and the eaves of the building. With structural compromise already occurring, and a metal
tin roof, the fire department didn’t want to send firefighters in to negotiate a very slippery slope and use more water. “We did use the aerial platform truck so that way the firefighters can safely work from that platform, because that’s what it’s designed to do.” Piercing nozzles were used to penetrate the tin, and get some suppression water on it to stop the forward progress of the fire. “Once the fire is brought
Police chief pleased with impaired driving crackdown It’s been a little more than a year since the Estevan Police Service (EPS) held its summit on impaired driving in the community, and police Chief Paul Ladouceur is pleased with how the community has responded to the issue. The summit was held on Feb. 16, 2018, with about 30 people in attendance. It served as an opportunity for those present to discuss ways to curb the issue in Estevan. People from a wide variety of agencies and organizations – law enforcement, education, health care, social services and more – were in attendance. Ladouceur has long maintained that there would be a spike in impaired driving numbers before there would be a decline, because if the EPS threw a lot of resources at impaired driving, then they would catch more impaired drivers. “We saw it go up a little bit, and then we’re starting to see that drop,” said Ladouceur. There were 143 charges
Police chief Paul Ladouceur for impaired driving and other offences for exceeding the legal limit last year, down from roughly 160 in 2017. The goal for 2019 is to continue to see impaired driving rates drop. There have been some cases already this year. Two alleged impaired drivers were apprehended during the Feb. 9 night shift. “The last couple of weeks have been discouraging. We’ve seen quite a few impaired driv-
ers,” Ladouceur said. It’s particularly concerning when those alleged impaired drivers have a young child in a vehicle, or if they are involved in an accident. Since last year’s meeting, a new chapter of Mothers Against Impaired Drivers has been started in Estevan, with Connie Hagel serving as the chapter volunteer coordinator. “Connie Hagel is doing a fantastic job with that, so we’re very proud of the work that she is doing.” The EPS also started to release the names of people charged with impaired driving, with those names appearing in the Mercury. Other police services across the country have also started publicizing the names of individuals charged with impaired driving, hoping that it will serve as a deterrent. “This is a case where enough is enough, and we have to really get the community involved,” said Ladouceur. Licensed establishments have done a good job of A2 » RECOMMENDATIONS
under control, then we start stripping some of the metal so that way we can see if there’s any extensions or hot spots that are still occurring.” About 20 firefighters were called to the scene, and most were there throughout the day. Seven apparatus units, including the ladder truck, a fire engine, a tender truck, three command vehicles and a utility truck, were used. The building had been vacant for some time, as Sanjel moved to a new facility
west of city limits a few years ago. Feser pointed out there wasn’t any office furniture still in the building. “The fire did itself start in the mechanical maintenance room area that was on the shop side of the occupancy, and extended laterally into the office portion of the commercial occupancy,” said Feser. An official cause of the fire hasn’t been determined. The fire department believes it was something in the mechanical room.
No injuries occurred in the fire, and none of the firefighters suffered smoke inhalation or frostbite, despite the amount of time they spent at the scene. The extreme cold did pose some challenges. An extreme cold warning was in place when the fire broke out, and while that warning was lifted before the end of the day, the frigid temperatures persisted. One of the fire hydrants that the fire department was trying to use when they arrived was actually frozen. A quick radio call was made to the City of Estevan’s public works division, and they steamed up the hydrant to establish water supply. “As soon as we run into issues like that, we follow up with a tender unit so that way we have water regardless,” said Feser. “One of our trucks just delivered water to the scene until we can reestablish water supply from the hydrant system.” The city’s safety co-ordinator Helen Fornwald assisted the fire department as well, and arranged for a school bus to be brought to the scene so that the firefighters could A2 » FIREFIGHTERS
Local farmers were part of Convoy to Ottawa By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
While he hasn’t been able to be part of the entire United we Roll Convoy to Ottawa, Jason LeBlanc of LeBlanc Farms is praising the experience and the people who put it together. The convoy left Red Deer, Alta., in the morning of Feb. 14 and rolled into Saskatchewan later that day. After spending the night in Emerald Park, the convoy resumed, and drove through Manitoba, before finishing the day in Kenora, Ont. Trucks pulled in to Arnprior, Ont., just outside of Ottawa, on Feb. 18. Rallies were scheduled to happen in Ottawa on Feb. 19 and 20. Many of the participants from southeast Saskatchewan joined the convoy in Virden, Man., but LeBlanc met them in Regina on Feb. 15, and remained with the convoy until Brandon, Man. He had to come back to the Estevan area due to a prior commitment, but he flew out to Ottawa on
Monday so he could meet up with the convoy again. A hired hand, Jake Fast, has been part of the convoy since Feb. 15. Speaking from Wawa, Ont., on Feb. 17, he was looking forward to reaching the Ottawa area. He cited several reasons for wanting to be part of the convoy. “Agriculture is a big deal. We need to get rid of that carbon tax,” said Fast. “And we need to support our country. That’s why I wanted to join these guys.” Fast said he has received lots of positive reinforcement from people who believe the convoy participants are doing the right thing. “I have yet to buy a meal,” Fast said during a stop. “They just announced here lots of hamburgers, sandwiches and pizza. They have all that out here again as we’re stopped.” It ’s been a recurring theme throughout the journey. “I cannot believe the people that even at 10 o’clock at night, the first night we drove, they were waiting out
in the middle of nowhere, just waiting for us to come by, and supporting us,” said Fast. He was looking forward to the rallies in Ottawa, and is excited to get their message across. LeBlanc echoed Fast’s sentiments about the support from the public. Travelling with the convoy has shown him how big of an issue this really is. He might go 10-15 kilometres without seeing anything, and then he’ll see someone out holding a sign, encouraging the convoy to stand up for Canada. In one spot, there was a teacher with kids supporting the convoy. “It makes it all worth the while that we’re going down to try to unite this country, to try to point out some of the obvious things, that we are bountiful with natural resources, and this (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau does not want it,” said LeBlanc. He wasn’t disappointed with the number of people on the convoy. While it was billed A2 » MANY
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