Saskatoon Fire Department ready to keep the city safe over the holidays

As we get closer to Christmas Day, the Saskatoon Fire Department is prepared to answer your call.

“There’ll be some additional challenges and some sacrifices by us all in order to get safely through this Christmas,” Saskatoon Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Rodger told 650 CKOM Wednesday.

“More of us are staying home, we’re not travelling, so (the) potential for risk goes up. Because now, instead of gathering multiple people at a single location, family and friend wise, we’re all staying home.

“From a risk-management prospective, (this Christmas) creates more opportunities for something to go wrong.”

The fire department will be operating with an adequate number of staff for the big day, Rodger said. He said there are additional challenges this COVID Christmas, but offered some encouraging words Wednesday.

“If you need us, we’ll be there,” he said.

Rodger said in terms of tips for residents, keeping your live trees well-watered is essential.

“Don’t ever let it dry out, that tree will still consume that water and keep it fresh. We do know that when that dries out, the fuel that tree has within it, the potential to burn, increases extremely to where it can be quite volatile,” he said.

Additionally, making sure candles are blown out and staying safe in the kitchen is also key this holiday season.

Typically, the fire department isn’t too too busy on the big day, though.

“Thankfully, (the calls we get are) usually pretty low,” Rodger said. “The awareness that we have, the public education that we promote are generally, from a fire perspective, they are fairly low.”

He said in the event of an emergency, the fire department still responds to medical calls, so they still have additional items on the plate.

He said in the event of an emergency, call 9-1-1 to ensure you and yours are able to celebrate the holidays and beyond.