KAMSACK — A large Christmas wreath decorated with electric red light bulbs was placed on the outside of the Kamsack fire hall on Dec. 1 where it will stay until Jan. 1 as a reminder to be mindful of fire prevention during the holiday season.
This year marks the seventh year that the wreath was placed on the James Rudd Memorial Fire Hall, Ken Thompson, fire chief, said, explaining that if the fire brigade is called to fight a fire during December, one of the red bulbs will be replaced with a white bulb.
With this wreath program, residents passing by the fire hall will easily know how busy the brigade is, Thompson said.
“Our objective is to keep the lights burning red.”
Only in three of the seven years of the program were red lights changed to white bulbs, he said. In one of those years, there were two bulbs changed and in two other years, only one bulb had to be changed. This included last year when the Woodlander Hotel was destroyed by fire.
Thompson advised residents to be wary of lit candles, electric cords that may cause a fire and real Christmas trees. Even if a real tree is decorated by LEDs, they too may cause a fire if the needles are too dry.
Make sure those natural trees are well watered, he said.
Mentioning the relatively new practice of deep-frying turkeys, Thompson urged cooks to make sure that their turkeys are fully thawed and dry and that there is enough room in the container with the hot oil to accommodate the turkey without spillage.
And keep the hot oil away from buildings, he said, describing a recent incident in Canora where deep frying a turkey had contributed to two house fires.
During 2024, the Kamsack fire brigade was called to fight about the same number of fires as had been the norm, he said. There have been no real serious fires, although the brigade was called to extinguish some grass fires in the fall, but none of them was serious.
