Five members of the Gimli Fire Department were deployed to help battle wildfires near Leaf Rapids earlier this month.
Captain Garry Anderson, Chris Struhan, Derek Clarke, Deputy Chief Cory Jacobson and Tanar Van Alstyne were part of two teams sent north for five-day rotations starting July 20 and July 26.
They travelled with the department’s rapid response truck to assist with sprinkler setup and hot spot suppression.
“It’s chores like that where this truck really shines,” said Gimli Fire Chief Mike Chudd. “It’s primarily designed for bush and wildfires, as well as traffic control.”
The rapid response vehicle is outfitted with VHF and PSCS radios, a one-tonne water tank, pump, hose reel and other tools useful in fast-moving fire scenarios.
Chudd noted that Leaf Rapids has been surrounded by three separate wildfires. At one point, flames breached a river, triggering an evacuation of firefighters.
“They definitely got the full gamut on that first trip, but this is what we’re made to do,” he said.
Wind has been one of the most unpredictable and dangerous factors in Leaf Rapids, especially when it shifts suddenly or increases in strength.
“Things can turn for the worse very quickly,” Chudd said. “We have to be ready to respond to those changes at any moment.”
This was the first time the Gimli Fire Department responded to such a call under the direction of the Office of the Fire Commissioner, he added.
“My priority is always to look after the community of Gimli, and we also need to ensure our mutual aid district has adequate coverage,” Chudd said. “We didn’t previously have anything in place to respond outside our mutual aid zones, so I spoke with council and we started setting that up.”
In other department news, 2025 is shaping up to be another record-setting year for calls. The department also set call records in both 2023 and 2024.
“We’ve been getting busier and busier, but this is what we want to do. It’s in our hearts and in our blood to go out—we want to help wherever we can,” said Chudd.
