Nicole Goldsworthy
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
SaskToday.ca
NIPAWIN — Motor vehicle collisions were the fastest-growing category of calls for the Nipawin Fire Department in 2025, nearly doubling from the previous year, according to the department’s annual report reviewed by Nipawin council.
The department responded to 260 incidents, including 49 motor vehicle collisions, up from 25 in 2024, representing a 96 per cent increase. Inattention was the leading cause, followed by animal strikes, weather conditions, speed and alcohol, according to Nipawin Fire Chief Paul Cockell.
According to the report, three collisions involved pedestrians, one of which proved fatal. Fire crews also responded to 12 vehicle fires during the year. Increased collision activity contributed nearly $100,000 in revenue from SGI, partly attributed to a 2023 amendment to the fire and rescue bylaw that expanded coverage to include in-town collisions.
Security monitoring companies triggered 91 per cent of false alarm responses. Common causes included residents cooking and being unable to answer their phones, unknown system errors, dead batteries, power outages and equipment malfunctions. Other causes included renovation dust, expired or non-compliant detectors, steam, pest control fogging and smoking-related incidents.
Protective services also devoted significant time to removing sharps from the community. A total of 6,260 sharps were collected during the year, including large recoveries from an abandoned vehicle at a town facility, a nuisance residence and a structure fire where more than 1,300 sharps and cases of unused syringes were discovered. That incident required RCMP and Social Services involvement due to the presence of a vulnerable individual. Sharps and drug paraphernalia were also frequently found during encampment removals, according to the report.
Structure fires increased in 2025, with 23 responses recorded, including mutual aid calls to Tisdale, Choiceland and Carrot River. Several fires involved difficult rekindles despite sub-zero temperatures and continuous water application. Electrical appliances, deliberately set fires, improperly discarded cigarettes and heaters were among the leading causes, according to the report.
The NFD also responded to 63 non-structure fires, including brush and grass fires, nuisance fires, dumpster fires, vehicle fires and cooking-related incidents. Five rescues were recorded, involving snowmobiles, an ATV and a plane crash.
Hazardous materials responses totalled 27 calls, including six confirmed carbon monoxide incidents that required SaskEnergy attendance and ventilation by firefighters. All were reported by residents rather than monitoring companies and were largely linked to faulty furnaces or hot water heaters, it said in the report.
Nipawin firefighters also provided wildfire support to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency during the Camp and Shoe fires from May 29 to June 6, contributing 99 hours of response time and 437 man-hours over nine days, not including additional in-town support work, said Cockell.
Department call volumes were comparable to other Saskatchewan communities, with La Ronge reporting 373 calls, Melfort 132, Carrot River 88, and Estevan, Melville and Humboldt each reporting more than 100 incidents, according to Cockell’s report.
