Community safety is a team effort

Dave Werrett recalls walking through the dense brush of Saskatchewan’s boreal forest with other members of his search-and-rescue team, following a disciplined pattern – eight feet apart, eyes on the team members beside you – that can be critical to success, or even survival.

“You don’t want to be searching for a searcher,” says Dave, a member of the Highway 55N Search and Rescue unit that serves several communities two hours north of Saskatoon. “It’s really thick and swampy and you make sure you can see each other, left and right, or you might lose track of someone.”

While Saskatchewan’s summers invite people to a perfect playground for outdoor activities, the ever-present threat of wildfires and remote camping locations create a need for emergency services and search-and-rescue teams. Many of the units are staffed by volunteers working with limited budgets or using personal funds to buy protective equipment.

As part of Nutrien’s “Building Stronger Communities Together” program, the company provided $2,500 grants to several organizations dedicated to keeping people safe across the province. The funds were among the 65 grants awarded to celebrate the company’s 65-year history in Saskatchewan.

“It is part of our company culture that safety is our number one priority,” says Trevor Berg, Senior Vice President, Potash Operations & Interim Head of Phosphate, Nutrien. “That doesn’t stop at the gates of our operating sites or ag retail locations. It’s a priority we support in our communities as well.”

For the Highway 55N team, the grant money was used to purchase necessary communications equipment, specifically a radio repeater for their command-centre vehicle and GPS trackers that improve the team’s ability to stay connected and to mark critical landmarks or evidence in a search.

“This gives us the ability to keep track of where everybody is,” says Dave. “If we find a piece of evidence, we can pinpoint a location and send it back to the command centre.”

Through the summer months, Dave says the unit typically receives a call for assistance on a weekly basis. Despite the dangers and the cost, he says the people involved are quick to respond when called.

“It's just the love of being part of a team, the camaraderie, and just trying to help other people,” says Dave. “It amazes me by the number of people who will show up and volunteer – sometimes using their vacation time – to do searches. But people love to volunteer for the community and for humankind.”

Inspired by Community Service

The spirit of community service is a common theme among the organizations that received grants through Nutrien’s “Building Stronger Communities Together” program. In many areas, safety is one of the on-the-ground priorities where the grant money can have a meaningful impact.

At Rosthern Fire and Rescue, the Nutrien grant helped purchase specialized helmets, including goggles and neck protection, used for wildland firefighting.

“You can’t chase a grass fire for nine hours wearing an eight-pound helmet and an extra 40 pounds of gear,” says Rosthern Fire Chief Bill Doran. “This gear is lighter, safer, and lets our people work longer.”

The department is also building its own wildland truck from scratch — a grassroots effort built on trades, donations, volunteer effort, and old-fashioned prairie ingenuity. The crew is also planning a 50/50 raffle to launch this summer. A new fully outfitted truck would cost about $400,000, but the Rosthern team is assembling its own with a budget of $32,000. The truck will help combat grassfires on agricultural land in central Saskatchewan.

“If a farmer cuts down a bunch of swaths and it's dry out there, you can get a grass fire that will roll through and burn up his entire crop,” says Bill. “That's detrimental to a farm and all the people who get their income from that work. We need the equipment to try to control those fires.”

In Birtle, Manitoba, which is home to several employees from Nutrien’s nearby Rocanville potash operation, the grant was used by the volunteer fire department to fund high-pressure breathing apparatus bottles — essential for safety in hazardous situations.

“It filled a real gap in our equipment and helped keep our team safer,” says Nick Radalinsky, a member of the Birtle Fire Department. “When we go into a fire or smoky situation – even a (hazardous materials) situation – the apparatus connects to a face mask and gives us fresh air in a hot zone.”

In all, 11 safety-focused organizations received community grants from Nutrien, including:
- Highway 55N Search and Rescue (Candle Lake),
- Rosthern Fire and Rescue,
- Birtle Fire Department,
- Avonlea-Elmsthorpe Volunteer Fire Department,
- Hanley Rosedale Fire Department,
- Nokomis and District Fire Protection Cooperative,
- Aquadeo Emergency Measures Organization,
- Riverhurst Volunteer Fire Department,
- Allan Emergency Measure Organization,
- Saskatoon Search and Rescue, and
- Meeting Lake Community Fire Protection.

Although each organization has a specific need for the funds, they all share a common passion – one that is shared by Nutrien: a safer community is a stronger community.