M.D. of Taber Regional Fire Service
935 1st Ave North T0K 2K0 Vauxhall, AB, Canada

Regional Fire Service Class 12 NFPA 1001 level 1 course spent Thursday evening at the Regional Fire Service Training Centre in Vauxhall undertaking practical sk...ills training on hydrant operations, SCBA, search and rescue, interior fire attack and ventilation. A good night of training as the volunteer firefighters work towards their Level 1 testing in March.

Today at 13:26 station 5 was called out to a controlled burn, due to strong winds the control of the fire was lost and assistance was needed. All arriving units quickly extinguish the fire and were back in service at 14:30.

Friday evening at 18:06 station 5 Vauxhall and mutual aid from station 4 and 7 MDFD were called out to bales on a trailer fire. With good effort from the volunteer firefighters the fire was extinguished. All units were back at the hall and ready for the next call at 21:40. Thanks to station 7 for responding with their water tender and smiles, it’s always nice to work with fellow Brothers and sisters.

On January 10, 2020, 1 year ago Station 5 responded to a 2 vehicle accident south of Vauxhall involving 10 people with 4 fatalities. This response and rescue w...as a team effort from multiple Fire (Station 4) & EMS agencies including air support from HALO, STARS and RCMP moving 6 injured people from scene out in the middle of nowhere to area hospitals. In this past year I received many phones calls and messages of thanks from family and friends of both the survivors and the deceased. As well, a few FB photos from one of the survivors who was severely injured now walking and physically back to normal. A father, Uncle and Grandmother of one of the young men travelled 8 hours to come to Vauxhall to say thank you, share a handshake, some hugs and to lay the metal cross you see on the right. The young mans co-workers stopped by after they all returned to work and dressed the cross with a safety vest & hard hat. Back in the spring of 2020 the cross on the left was placed in memory of all 4 young men that lost their lives. It is there so family & friends had somewhere to come to say their goodbyes and to remember them. Recently in November someone also stopped by and decorated the crosses with flowers. Thank you to Lt. John Martens for making the cross from the ideas I shared. In the face of tragedy and adversity many heroes stepped forward that cold Friday morning. If it wasn’t for all of you the fatality count would have been higher. A special thank you to the co-workers that were following behind in other vehicles and other bystanders that assisted. I hope with time you are healing mentally as well, we all saw, heard and did a lot that -20 morning.

Grain rescue equipment Donated by G3 and the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association to the M.D. of Taber Regional Fire Service. Taber, ALBERTA, January 4, 202...1 Municipal District of Taber Regional Fire Services is pleased to announce that it has been awarded grain rescue equipment by the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA), in partnership with G3. Municipal District of Taber Regional Fire Services participated in BeGrainSafe (CASA’s grain safety program) last fall and in previous years and have Firefighters trained in grain rescue located in each of the Service's 6 Fire Stations. The BeGrainSafe training consists of one day of theory and a second day of practical training and evaluation, with an emphasis placed on fire fighters learning how to extract a person trapped in grain safely, using a cofferdam and auger. While training is key, a successful rescue could not happen without the proper equipment. CASA, in partnership with G3, has provided Municipal District of Taber Regional Fire Services with a GSI RES-Q-TUBE and a Haul-ALL pencil auger, both of which are essential in rescuing a grain entrapment victim. When used in combination, the grain rescue tube creates a barrier between the victim and the grain while the auger helps rescuers quickly move the grain away from the victim. Regional Fire Chief Joseph Bruyere gratefully acknowledges this generous donation: The Municipal District of Taber Regional Fire Service extends its appreciation to G3 Carmangay and the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association for providing the grain rescue equipment. The Regional Fire Service and its 107 members are now equipped to respond to grain rescue emergencies within the municipality or to provide the equipment and assistance if required to any one of its 18 mutual aid partners should the need arise. The BeGrainSafe program emphasizes prevention and raises awareness of the dangers of grain entrapment, as well as preparing fire departments for grain rescues. Harm prevention through awareness has always been a top priority for CASA, and this is never truer than with grain entrapment. However, it’s also important that fire departments are well trained and prepared with the proper equipment in case of an incident, says Robert Gobeil, CASA’s Agricultural Health and Safety Specialist. Thanks to G3, this life-saving equipment will be in the hands of those who need it. G3 is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for our staff, customers and neighbours in all the communities we serve, says G3 CEO Don Chapman. We’re pleased to expand our support for the BeGrainSafe program to include Municipal District of Taber Regional Fire Services. For more information about BeGrainSafe, including firefighter training, please visit casa-acsa.ca/grain or Contact CASA at 877-452-2272 or [email protected]. G3 is a Canadian grain trading and handling company. For more information visit www.g3.ca. MEDIA CONTACTS Joseph Bruyere | Municipal District of Taber MD of Taber Interim Regional Fire Chief Fire Chief Station 4 and Station 7 MD of Taber Director of Emergency Management Office 403 223-1180

There seems to be a power outage going on in the Town of Vauxhall at this time. Please refer to the outage map below provided by Fortis.

**COVID-19 #STOPTHESPREAD** In the wake of last week’s provincial public health announcement regarding the concerning rise in COVID-19 cases, the Municipal Dist...rict of Taber, the Town of Taber, the Town of Vauxhall, and the Village of Barnwell have joined together to send a strong message urging citizens to follow and adhere to ALL safety and precautionary measures issued by Alberta Health to help prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Together we can #STOPTHESPREAD. Town of Taber Town of Vauxhall @Village of Barnwell See more

Congratulations to you both on being the 2020 Volunteers of the Year award winners! Welcome to the Volunteer of the year winner club!

The MD of Taber has escalated from "watch" to "enhanced" status on the list of communities for COVID-19. Please note the following new mandatory public health m...easures issued by Alberta Health effective Friday, November 13 for gatherings in all communities listed as "enhanced" (purple zones). For more information on additional measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 visit: https://www.alberta.ca/enhanced-public-health-measures.aspx See more

We are responding to the rising COVID-19 spread by implementing targeted public health measures in Edmonton, Calgary, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Fort McMurray ...and Red Deer. These targeted measures take effect on Friday, November 13: Fitness group classes and team sports must stop until November 27. This does not include outdoor sport, individual sports, individual exercises, training or equipment use. Gyms are not required to close. This also doesn’t apply to junior, university or professional sports. Group performances, such as singing, dancing and theatre must cease. These measures don’t apply to professional performance venues. Additional public health measures will also implemented in all regions under an enhanced status: All restaurants, bars, lounges and pubs in these regions must cease liquor sales by 10 p.m. and close by 11 p.m. until November 27. Maximum attendance of 50 at wedding or funeral ceremonies. All faith-based activities are recommended to limit attendance to one-third capacity per service. Residents should not hold social gatherings within their home and should not plan social gatherings outside their community. Employers in office settings are recommended to implement measures to reduce the number of employees in the workplace at one time. We are asking all Albertans to do their part. If these measures are not successful, it will be necessary to implement more restrictive measures. For more information visit: https://www.alberta.ca/enhanced-public-health-measures.aspx

Station 4 and Station 7 units currently on scene at a single vehicle MVC on Highway 3 near Range Road 18-1 west of Barnwell. A semi truck and trailer is jackkn...ifed in the eastbound lane. Traffic near the scene has been reduced to a single lane. Driving Conditions are extremely slippery and hazardous. Avoid travel if possible. Update: the scene has been cleared and all lanes of traffic are open. Units on scene responding to second incident 4 kilometres west of this scene.