The members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service were put to an endurance test while extinguishing a fire at a local business last week.
Firefighters spent 11 hours battling a blaze that destroyed portions of the warehouse and steel shop at Sholter-Horsman Furniture + Appliance which is located on the east edge of the city on the Highway 47 service road.
"It was a huge fire and a huge fire load," said fire chief Ron Tocker who added the department was alerted to the blaze shortly after 11 p.m. on Nov. 22 and arrived to find the flames venting out the roof of the structure.
"It is really hard for us to handle when we've got a fire load that high. We had to cut holes into the building to be able to get at the fire. We cut a series of holes all the way through the walls and the overhead doors to get at it because the roof collapsed along the whole ridge.
"We also had two lean-to collapses which is very unusual so that was difficult for us. We did manage to easily stop the fire in the steel shop because there was a very small fire load there. But once it progressed southward into the furniture storage, there was a huge fire load and that was a little more difficult. When we got to the last two bays, that was when we really lambasted it. It was extremely difficult to get at because of the type of roof collapse that occurred there."
Tocker said along with the usual firefighting methods, they were also forced to bring a track hoe from Glen Peterson Construction which allowed them to remove the collapsed sections of the roof and get to the fires that were still burning underneath.
"It was burning underneath and we just couldn't get at it," he said. "There was no way in the world I was going to send guys in with a collapsed roof. We got the hoe in, knocked the walls down and dragged everything and were then able to surround the building again and go back and extinguish all the small fires and hot spots."
Jerry Van Roon, owner of Sholter-Horsman, said the fire has not caused any major disruptions to the furniture and appliance side of his business but did note the steel shop will be closed for a few more days.
"But that is going to be open shortly here," said Van Roon. "We are just waiting for the OK and that is just a matter of a day or two."
Tocker gave a lot of credit to his firefighters for their work in getting the fire under control and also to Peterson Construction for bringing in their equipment on such short notice.
"They dropped what they had planned to do that day and came out and assisted us instantly. That was huge for us. I was also pretty proud of what the firefighters did, how hard they worked and how long they worked. Tremendous job done by the firefighters."
At the time of the interview, Tocker said they had not determined a cause of the fire or an exact location of where it started, although they believe it started in the middle of the warehouses and spread north and south.
Tocker added that he also wanted to ask for the public's support and understanding while the firefighters are doing their jobs. He noted a number of people who own or work in businesses on the service road were upset that they were not allowed to get into their places of work because of the hoses that were extended across the road. Tocker said although he understands their frustration, a fire must always take precedence.
"When we lay fire hose, it's needed. It's not something we are doing to irritate the public. I know we had a humongous amount of hose laid out along that service road and some of the businesses got blocked off and they were a little upset with us but we had no choice. They have to understand when we have hose laid, that is going to take preference."
