Murray Wood: Canada can lose occasionally and still be number one
There have been times in Canada where confidence in our hockey dominance has wavered, but Murray Wood says a loss in the...
The stretch of Highway 11 between Regina and Saskatoon sees thousands of travellers each year.
The busy highway also means numerous calls for rural fire departments.
Read more:
- Research project looks into Saskatoon firefighters’ mental health
- Volunteer firefighter joins call for public inquiry into wildfire response
- MADD president says mandatory alcohol screening ‘amazing’ way to catch impaired drivers
Cory Dean, the fire chief of the Davidson Volunteer Fire Department, said most of the calls his crews responded to in 2025 were on Highway 11.
“The highway never stops,” he said. “I think it just shows that the province is busier than it ever has been.”
Responding to the calls isn’t the main problem. Dean said safety concerns regarding other drivers is actually the biggest worry for his firefighters.
“It’s more dangerous for a member to be standing on the highway than it is for a member to be going into a burning structure,” Dean said.
“It’s because people are not slowing down.”
He said drivers going too fast past the scene of accidents is something his department deals with way too frequently.
“It’s quite disturbing to see how many people do not pay attention when they’re going around emergency scenes, or they’re driving way too fast for conditions,” he said.
Highway 11 was closed between Davidson and Aylesbury on Dec. 19, 2025, after multiple collisions and stranded vehicles piling up on the road and in the ditches. (Saskatchewan Highway Hotline)
Typically, Davidson firefighters respond to around 30 calls per year. Dean said this year that number sits at 67.
Aside from responding to collisions on the highway, he said firefighters also dealt with grass fires, structural fires and some firefighters were even dispatched to battle wildfires up north.
This was the first time members of Dean’s crew were able to help with wildfires.
“We had enough resources to be able to send people up, and we felt that we could help in a situation like that, so we volunteered to go,” he said.
Davidson Fire Department fire chief Cory Dean, lieutenant Kristen Sampson from Davidson Fire, firefighter Joni Hofer from the RM of Swift Current Fire Department, and firefighter Dylan Payne from Davidson Fire arrived at Beauval on July 2, 2025. (Cory Dean/Submitted)
Dean said the team of volunteers — most of whom have full-time jobs in addition to volunteering with the fire department — made it all possible.
“The team really dedicates themselves and comes together as a group,” Dean said.
“We often call ourselves a fire family. They lean on each other and motivate each other and try and push each other to be the best versions of themselves. You can’t get a better group of people than a volunteer group like that.”
The Davidson fire department has grown from nine members to 21 over the past five years. Dean said he’s hoping for a slower 2026, but said there’s no way to know what next year will look like.
No matter what the next year brings, he said the team is ready.
“We’re definitely gearing up to maintain a level of training and maintain our equipment to handle the most,” he said.
Fire chief Cory Dean encouraged drivers to slow down and drive according to road conditions, especially when emergency crews are responding to an incident. (Davidson Volunteer Fire Department/Facebook)
Lumsden fire department breaks record
Jeff Carey, fire chief of the Lumsden District Volunteer Fire Department, echoed Dean’s comments.
While he said the number of calls his team responded to in 2025 wasn’t alarming, the department did break records.
“We usually end up around 60 to 70 calls. That’s the highest we’ve ever been, and this year we’re up to 77,” Carey said.
“It’s not a huge increase, but after however many years of keeping track, it has jumped up.”
The majority of calls Lumsden fire crews respond to are also highway related, and safety is always a concern for Carey and his team.
“Definitely slow down, pull over, pay attention to our lights and listen for us,” he said.
Carey said he’s hoping for a quiet 2026, with fewer calls and, ideally, a rainy spring to lessen the risk of grass fires.
Carey said he’s also excited to welcome three or four new volunteers to the team in the new year.
On a cold night in December, members of the Lumsden Fire Department practiced “low personnel ice rescue drills.” (Lumsden Fire Department/Facebook)
Province-wide issue
While the Davidson and Lumsden fire departments share a highway and are roughly 100 km apart, Dean said safety is a province-wide issue.
“Lots of departments from all across the province are seeing the same situation,” he said. “The call volumes are increasing. The dedicated time that it takes is increasing. It takes more time, more people, more equipment to handle all of these calls.
Members of the Davidson Volunteer Fire Department following a training event in October. (Davidson Volunteer Fire Department/Facebook)
He said the severity and complexity of calls also seem to be trending upward, and with the more complex calls, additional or new training is often requried.
“The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency has come out with minimum standards as well, so you have to comply with that and it takes quite a bit more training, quite a bit of equipment upkeep,” Dean said.
“You have to check all the boxes off all of these things to maintain the minimum standards, which is great, but it’s a lot more work, a lot more funding and a lot more equipment training to meet these standards.”
—with files from 980 CJME’s Abby Zieverink
