Teamwork helps keep two communities safe

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Teamwork and respect are enhancing the safety of two communities.

Since 1996, Muskoday First Nation and the adjacent town and rural municipality of Birch Hills have operated under a mutual aid agreement under which their fire and rescue departments assist one another whenever necessary. Now the success of that partnership is drawing attention from other groups interested in improving fire services on and off reserve.

On May 13, a forum was held at Muskoday, organized by Brian Fitzpatrick, MP for the Prince Albert riding, to help bands come up with ways of expanding resources and preparing for emergencies.

Danny Birkland is captain of Birch Hills Fire and Rescue and was the mayor of Birch Hills when the mutual aid agreement was signed. He attended the forum and presented government representatives with a copy of the agreement.

"They asked questions about how we got started and why we got started and how it's working," Birkland said.

The proximity of the two communities to Highway 3, which runs past both Muskoday and Birch Hills has led to an additional aspect of the partnership.

"Another venture that we went into is motor vehicle accidents," Birkland said. "We didn't have Jaws of Life at the time, but the people at Muskoday did. The problem there is that they took the same training as us-the same courses-but SGI will not recognize them on the highway because they're federally funded."

Not willing to stand idle where help was needed, fire Chief Ivan Bear struck a deal with his neighbours. He supplies the equipment and rescue training and the two departments respond to motor vehicle accidents together whenever a 911 call is relayed to Birch Hills.

"Whatever the fee is, we split it 50-50." Birkland said.

The departments have long had a verbal understanding, but Bear said it was important to make things official. "It's all set out now, what we expect of one another and it's a good agreement. It's kind of a comfort zone for us, knowing that no matter what, we've always got back-up."

Sometimes that means one department taking over when a situation hits too close to home. "If Birch Hills people are involved in an accident, we kind of take traffic control and do what we can to help, but they do the main part," Birkland said. "If it's Muskoday people, then we step up to the plate."

Last May, an accident on a grid road near Birch Hills claimed the lives of two teenage sisters. Then in December ,two young children died as the result of a house fire at Muskoday. Bear described what it's like to be faced with such situations.

"You train and you train and you train, but you're never ready for something like that. You've got to put your feelings aside, go through the motions and after it's all over, then you've got to try to deal with it."

Responding to so many tough calls over the last nine years has strengthened the bond between the Birch Hills and Muskoday firefighters.

"We've become a close-knit fire brigade," Birkland said. "I don't see us as being two fire departments anymore. I see us as being one."

Muskoday First Nation Chief Austin Bear is glad the arrangement is working so well. "We as a council are very pleased and very supportive of this type of mutual aid agreement, where communities can come together for something that's as critical as fire protection. I believe that we've built one of the finest volunteer fire departments around. We complement Birch Hills and Birch Hills complements us. That's what it means to be a neighbour."

Birch Hills Mayor Gordon Dyck feels the same way about the agreement. "It's very unique and it's kind of got fine-tuned over the years. We find ourselves now interacting socially and with various training programs and we share all our resources. They have so many talents that we can tap into and vice versa."