Fire protection is one of the most important services a municipality can provide to its residents. It is also one of the most expensive.

The City and RM of Dauphin recently approved the purchase of a new pumper truck for the Dauphin Fire Department, but the $828,447.90 price tag might not be as big a hit as it initially appears, said fire chief Cam Abrey.

“This is part of our capital replacement plan. We have a 10-year capital replacement plan so there’s no surprises to the taxpayers. The city and the RM make annual contributions towards the plan through their budgeting process and then we take a look at the age of our apparatus and the maintenance that’s been going into it as of late,” Abrey said. “One of the things that we did in order to lower the cost for the ratepayers is we’ve moved from a custom cabin chassis, which was the last pumper purchased in 2011, to a commercial cab and chassis, which lowers a price by $150,000 to $200,000.”

Three bids were received for supplying the truck with The Fort Garry Fire Trucks plan for a 2025 Freightliner cab and chassis top mount enclosed pumper being selected.

The truck will carry 1,000 imperial gallons of water which will be managed through a Darley 1,250 imperial gallon pump. The truck will also provide seating for six firefighters and has a delivery time of 24 to 32 months, Abrey said, adding the new truck is being built to address the department’s specific needs.

“We looked at maximizing the crew efficiency, so the 2002 pumper only carries two firefighters, which means that we’ve got to send multiple trucks to any call outside of the City of Dauphin into the RM because we need more than two firefighters for these fires,” he said. “The new (truck) will be carrying six firefighters and a higher volume of water. The 2011 only carries 500 gallons of water and the new one is designed to carry 1,000 gallons of water. So it’s multipurpose in that it could respond within city limits and the RM of Dauphin.”

The additional water capacity, Abrey said, makes the truck ideal when crews are smaller than desired, providing additional resources for the initial knockdown while hydrants are tapped and provides enough water for fighting vehicle fires, which usually require around 500 gallons.

Those are the kind of benefits that can come with planning 10 years in advance, Abrey said, stressing the department will not spend the maximum amount of money available, simply because it is available.

“Every member on this fire department is also a ratepayer of the community and we’re not out to hose our community and increase taxes. We want to do it as efficiently as possible,” he said, adding even emergency situations like when the department’s water tanker caught fire in 2012 or the ladder truck had an electrical fire in 2015. “It would be easy to say, ‘we need a new truck’ and go get one rather than putting in the work to get it done. But we fought with insurance to get the best proceeds we could.”

Once the new truck is delivered the department will make a decision as to how to dispose of the old apparatus.

“We’ll ask the manufacturer when we get closer to delivery date if they’ll assist us in selling it or if they’d consider it as a trade in,” he said. “We always look for the best efficiencies we can with that, too. Obviously that money is returned back into the capital replacement plan.”

Abrey said the new pumper has a life expectancy of 20 years according to the Fire Underwriters Survey, the organization which sets insurance rates across Canada.

Women in Roblin are now going to have the option of going to the Roblin Clinic to see a physician who can assist them strictly with women’s health issues only.

Dr. Jenilee Misko will be offering a Women’s Wellness Clinic in the community starting this month. Misko saw the need for the treatment of women’s health issues in a bigger urban centre, where she is currently working, and felt that rural female patients should have the same services.

Read all about it in this week’s issue.

There is more and more need for adequate housing and affordable food, not only in the tri-community, but in Canada as a whole. The Pas Friendship Centre is fully aware of the amount of people living on the streets and how many are going without food on a daily basis. This sparked the project of building a new soup kitchen in the community, to help those in need.
“There was an apparent need to build a new soup kitchen based on the fact that many of our street population had nowhere to go or get anything to eat during the day,” said The Pas Friendship Centre Executive Director Doug Bartlett. “Oscar’s Place is only open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., and they would provide a quick meal in the evening. The people who spent the night there, would then have to leave in the morning and go all day with nothing else to eat.

A Public Hearing was held with regards to was held to create a public lane across part of SW ¼ 10-56-26 WPM known as 645 Hogan Avenue. There was no representation from the general public with concerns in regards to this by-law. By-Law No. 4638 was given a third reading, after the Public Hearing and passed.
A new student councillor has been appointed. Josh Santolaja was born in the Philippines, moved to The Pas in 2017, and attends MBCI. He has participated on the Kelsey School Division Board and is looking forward to being a part of town council.
A new Assistant Municipal Superintendent has been hired to work for the Town of The Pas. Tanvir Shahrier Mahmud has accepted the position and comes with six years of experience in civil engineering and overseen multiple municipal projects. The position had been vacant for a couple of years.

The 42nd annual Calico Corners Craft Show and Bazaar took place at the Veterans Community Hall on Friday (Nov. 3), helping raise money for the Association of Community Living, Swan River Branch, and providing an early Christmas shopping opportunity for area people to buy from local small businesses.

The Swan Valley Legacy Committee (SVLC) pulled off their first fundraiser for a new arena in Swan River, with a packed house at the Veterans Community Hall on Saturday night (Nov. 4). Twenty-four teams were signed up to play Family Feud and compete for a $1,000 grand prize or a $500 second place prize, and a crowd of hundreds to cheer them on. First place went to the Harvesters team and second place went to the We Drink and Know Things team, with the second place team donating their prize money back to the SVLC. 

Riding a three-game winning streak entering a weekend doubleheader with the Winnipeg Wild in Dauphin, the Parkland Rangers were hoping for big things.

Instead, they learned a painful lesson about consistent hard work and intensity.

Winnipeg skated to a 7-1 win on Saturday, followed by a 10-0 victory on Sunday afternoon.

When asked about the difference between Parkland’s overtime win over the Wild earlier in the season compared to these two games, Rangers coach Tyler Carefoot cited Winnipeg’s compete level, work ethic and intensity.

“Those are things that come to mind. They’re a little more polished than when we saw them a few weeks ago. But in saying that, they’re also, I think, the youngest team in the league,” he said.

More in this week's Dauphin Herald!

A five-game winning streak has the Dauphin Kings back on top in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division.

The latest victories came Friday, 5-3 over the Waywayseecappo Wolverines in Dauphin, and Saturday, a come-from-behind 3-2 shootout victory over the Virden Oil Capitals in Virden.

In Friday’s win, 901 spectators saw the teams trade first-period goals, with Aidan Brook and Trey Gnetz netting Dauphin’s goals, while Luke McCarthy and Garett Zasitko replied for the Wolverines.

Three goals in a span of 1:02 early in the third period broke the game open for Dauphin.

Logan Walker scored at 2:31 of the final frame, followed by Carter Zalischuk 16 seconds later and Alex Senf, 46 seconds after that.

Neo Kiemeney scored on a power play with 47 seconds left to round out the scoring.

Cole Sheffield made 23 saves to earn the win in goal, while Caleb Allen stopped 29 shots in taking the loss.

On Saturday, Josh Lehto staked Virden to an early lead on the power play, 3:58 into the first period.

Nolan Chastko made it 2-0 for Virden on another power play, 2:27 into the second period.

Dauphin pulled to within a goal when Havryil Simchuk scored with 2:25 left in the second and Gabriel Bugeaud tied it on a power play with six seconds left in the stanza.

After a scoreless third and overtime, the teams went to a shootout, where Jordan Bax and Alex Senf with the deciding goal in the fourth round scored for Dauphin.

Chastko had Virden’s lone goal in the shootout.

Sheffield made 39 saves to earn his 11th win of the season. Eric Reid took the loss after making 34 saves.

Dauphin improves to 12-2-0-0 on the season and sit two points ahead of Virden.

They will face the Neepawa Titans tonight, followed by a rematch, Saturday. Both games are in Neepawa.

Sunday, the Kings will host the Winkler Flyers at 4 p.m.

Kings court:

Friday’s win against Waywayseecappo and the 500th career win in the MJHL for Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley, joining Doug Stokes, Don MacGillivray, Blake Spiller and Ken Pearson in the 500-win club . . . The Kings moved up four spots in the Canadian Junior Hockey League Top 20 rankings. Dauphin now sits at no. 6, while Winkler moved up two spots to no. 3. Steinbach did not move at all, remaining at no. 8.

The longest running social in Dauphin was held, Saturday, as the Dauphin Fire Fighters Association hosted its 122nd Fire Fighters’ Ball.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Jack Carey Memorial Fire Fighter of the Year Award to Jordon Steiner.

In his remarks introducing Steiner, Dauphin fire chief Cam Abrey said Steiner is a past member of the executive of the firefighters’ association and has been an integral part in the past successes of the firefighters’ ball in previous years.

Abrey added Steiner continues to volunteer for the various events that the department takes part in and takes on a leadership role in every aspect of the department’s operations.

“Earlier this year, Dauphin Fire Department responded to a tragic accident as mutual aid to the Gilbert Plains Fire Department. In the hours, days and weeks following that incident, Jordon called or messaged not only members of DFD to check in on how they were doing, but also the members of GPFD,” Abrey said. “In June, following the incident that our fellow firefighters responded to at Carberry, Jordon suggested that Dauphin Fire send a contingent to their annual Cowboy Breakfast to show our support for them and what they had recently experienced.”

Steiner played a major role in an incident at Dauphin’s Countryfest when he came across an incident involving a festival goer that had been injured. First aid volunteers were there, but recognizing the urgency of the situation, he stepped up and assisted, in a major role, in getting the injured person to the ambulance and awaiting paramedics.

“I have worked alongside of this individual at training events and emergency response scenes and the level of compassion that they demonstrate when it comes to patient care is top notch,” Abrey stated. “Considering that he has recently started a new career, built a side business that he is committed to after his regular employment and has also become a new father, it is astonishing that he has still attended approximately 60 per cent of the calls over the past 10 months and almost 90 per cent of the weekly training. Astonishing, but not surprising given the integrity that he displays on a daily basis.”

Nominations for this Jack Carey Memorial Award are forwarded to the fire chief a month prior to the ball, submitted by the firefighters. There were five nominations received this year, all five were for Steiner, which Abrey said goes to show what an impression he has made on his fellow fire fighters.

“It’s a huge honour,” Steiner said.

Get the full story in this week's Dauphin Herald!

A Shell Valley girl has been chosen as Canada’s SIlver Cross Mother. Gloria Hooper nee Holopina of St. Claudwill be laying the wreath on behalf of all Canadian mothers who have lost children in military service to their nation at the National Remembrance Day service in Ottawa.

Her son, Sapper Christopher Holopina, died while serving in a peace keeping mission, Operation Alliance, in Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 4, 1996 when his troop was rushed in to help a group of British soldiers trapped in a mine field.

Find out more in this week’s issue.