Since the inception of the City of Moose Jaw Fire Department in late 1800s it has been our goal to “Save Lives and Protect Property”.

The Moose Jaw Fire Department is comprised of forty-nine full time staff members. The department provides emergency services to the residents of the City Of Moose Jaw and also provide structural fire suppression services to 15 Wing Moose Jaw, the military base south of the city. We also have fire service agreements with several rural municipalities, villages and resort villages that surround the city.

In order to maintain an initial five-minute response time to anywhere in the city we respond from two fire stations. Each station is staffed with a pumper truck, in addition to spare fire apparatus. One pumper responds from the South Hill Station and one pumper responds from the North Hill Station, as well as a responding incident commander in a command vehicle. Depending on the nature of the incident, the department may also respond one of its two aerial trucks, or other specialty vehicles and trailers, including wildland firefighting vehicles, rescue boats, hazardous materials trailer, technical rescue trailer, or mobile command post.

The other core branches of our department include Fire Inspections/Investigations, Public Safety Education and Emergency Measures Organization.  On average 1,000 inspections are done yearly through the Fire Inspection/Investigations Branch and In-company inspections. Fire investigations, fire drills and fire plans are also conducted by this branch.

Public Fire Safety Education is provided for elementary students in both school divisions, pre-schools/daycares, senior fire safety, babysitting courses and firestop interviews for fire setters. In addition to fire safety, a Distracted Driving Safety Program has now been added to provide education for high school students.

The Emergency Measures Organization is responsible for coordinating multi agencies during major disasters. The Coordinator ensures the city has an updated emergency plan and also coordinates training. It is largely a volunteer organization with members from the Moose Jaw Radio Club, Search & Rescue, Frontiersmen and ESS.

On average we respond to approximately 700 emergency calls yearly, composed of wildland fires, structure fires, vehicle fires, hazardous materials responses, vehicle extrications, technical rescues and other miscellaneous rescue calls. We are part of a tiered medical response system and respond to approximately 50 medical assistance calls a year alongside EMS. All responding personnel are at minimum first responder trained and every first response pumper truck is equipped with a basic trauma life support kit, including an automated external defibrillator.

Firefighters train throughout the year, in all weather, to perform the wide range of rescue and firefighting skills required of today’s fire professionals. The wide variety of potential emergencies requires firefighters to remain current on modern firefighting techniques, several technical rescue skills (high angle rope rescue, confined space rescue, trench rescue, ice/water rescue, vehicle rescue, etc.), and operation of constantly changing equipment and rescue tools. Firefighters also attend public events, conduct fire prevention inspections, and provide station tours countless times each year.

After 100 years of service to the community, it is easy to see that the Moose Jaw Fire Department has come a long way in the technical, training and staffing areas, however, our goal to “Save Lives and Protect Property” has never faltered.