Dauphin fire chief Cam Abrey was pleased to report a positive staffing situation for the Dauphin Fire Department as part of his report on the department’s operations for the first quarter of 2026 to Dauphin city council at its regular meeting, May 25.
“For the first time since 2019, we’re currently at a full number of roster membership on the department,” Abrey said, adding there are currently 42 department members.
“In looking at our members, we have five with firefighting level one, 14 that have completed their level two, six in the process of completing their firefighting level before July 1 of this year. Then, the recent recruiting efforts have bolstered our membership where we’ll hopefully have 17 individuals start their formalized training for firefighting level one this September. Those individuals are on the department right now and taking part in training, just not for level one.”
The full roster takes some pressure off of veteran department members, who, at times have difficulty trying to balance their personal lives, careers, and commitment to the fire department, Abrey added, pointing to a trend which has seen a steady increase in calls between 2005 and 2025.
In terms of operations over the first three month of 2026, Abrey said the department had 60 emergency responses, a 23 per cent increase over the same time period in 2025.
False alarms continue to be ranked as the highest in call volume, at 37 per cent, followed by motor vehicle accidents at 25 per cent, kitchen fires at 10 per cent, EMS lift assists at 10 per cent, and structure fires at eight per cent.
“One thing to note . . . we had three structure fires, one quite large. All of those as a result of cooking fires and all properties were insured by the owners, but they had renters in them and in two of the three they had no tenants insurance,” Abrey said.
“It is something we encourage through the fire department, that all tenants get tenants insurance. We also encourage property owners to ensure that their tenants have contents insurance, so that they’re looked after, as well.”
Other call categories include vehicle fires, which accounted for three per cent of calls, outdoor fires at two per cent, carbon monoxide alarms at two per cent, and a catchall “other” category, which accounted for three per cent of department responses.
Training continues to be a major focus for the department, Abrey said, adding three members recently completed their firefighting level on practical exams ahead of written exams they will write later this month. In addition, four local firefighters will travel to Brandon in the coming days for written and practical exams for hazardous material awareness and operation certification.
In early April several members travelled to Roblin for ice rescue training on Goose Lake.
“That’s the first time in a number of years that we’ve been able to host the ice rescue training in this area,” Abrey said, adding Goose Lake is also the perfect location for surface water rescue training, which is set to take place later this summer.
April also saw a farm accident rescue seminar hosted locally on behalf of the mutual aid district, which included several local firefighters, as well as two from Pine River, one from Roblin and four from Swan River.
A school bus rescue seminar was also set for this past weekend, Abrey added.
“This assists students with the knowledge and practical skills required with mass casualty motor vehicle incidents,” Abrey said.
“We typically host this program once every two years and again we have several members that are enrolled in the training and we’ll be working alongside others from Robin and Swan River fire departments.”
A new district training plan is in the works to being in September and carry through to June 2027.
“We typically get together with the 11 fire departments in the district, decide what courses are needed and then make our submission to the Emergency Services College,” Abrey said, adding the college puts out calls to instructors in an effort to solidify dates.
“Once we have dates finalized, then our students can begin their variety of specialized training opportunities.”
Finally, Abrey provided council with an update on the fire station assessment, which took place recently
The final report from Sputnik Architecture indicated, “the fire station is structurally serviceable, but exhibits aging infrastructure, localized moisture damage, and functional inefficiencies. With targeted roof and envelope rehabilitation, improved mechanical integration, and space reorganization, the facility can continue to operate safely until full replacement or major retrofit.”
The report also included Class C estimates for a proposed addition which ranged from $5,689,640 to $6,541,121.
Fully realizing there is not enough funding available for the entire project, Abrey has met with Project and Development manager Justin Tokarchuk to prepare estimates for priority roof revitalization, electrical upgrades and HVAC improvements.
“We are hoping to have estimates on some of that work ready for the 2027 budget, and we’ll, obviously, be exploring some potential provincial and federal grant programs to assist with those project costs.”