Thorhild County Emergency Services

08/31/2026

This week marks the return to school for many local students! With the return to classes we will be seeing more children, buses, pedestrians, and cyclists on the roads and sidewalks. Please help to ensure a safe first week back to class by:

🚗 Obeying posted speed limits and slowing down in school zones

🚌 Watching for stopped school buses. Stop in both directions when school buses have flashing lights activated and stop arm extended.

🚶 Keep an eye out for pedestrians.

TCES would like to wish all returning students a great 2026-2027 school year!

08/23/2026

This Thursday, TCES members moved from the fireground to the classroom to learn more about tactical ventilation techniques.

Practicing hands on fireground skills is essential; however, understanding the why behind those skills is just as important. Tonight, our members learned about different methods of ventilation, the importance of coordination between ventilation and attack teams, and explored how ventilation affects fire behaviour and conditions inside a structure. By the end of the evening members gained an appreciation for how the right techniques can support safer, more effective fireground operations.

08/16/2026

On Saturday, TCES Level 1 students had the opportunity to practice interior fire attack skills at the Athabasca County Fire Services Training Ground.

This training puts our Level 1 students one step closer to completing their NFPA 1001 Level 1 Firefighter certification. The NFPA 1001 Level 1 is a significant time commitment for both students and instructors, making days like this an important milestone in their development as firefighters.

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to Athabasca County Fire Services for allowing TCES to utilize their live fire training ground. A special thank you as well to Deputy Chief Travis Krahn and Regional Training Officer Adam Koons of Athabasca County Fire Services for their assistance throughout the day.

08/14/2026

Our final featured firefighter is Chief Denis Poulin!

Chief Poulin is there responding 24/7, nearly 365 days a year, supporting both our community and the firefighters who serve it.

Thank you to all of the firefighters who took the time to submit profiles throughout this series!

We hope these posts have helped our community get to know the people behind the firetrucks — the volunteers who give their time, train hard, answer the call, and work together to help keep our community safe.

From all of us at TCES, thank you for your continued support! If you are interested in learning more about TCES, what we do and joining the team do not hesitate to reach out. Our members are regular community members just like you, we would love to have you join us!

08/12/2026

08/11/2026

This weekend, two TCES members travelled to Westlock to complete the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Crew Member Course.

Our members spent the weekend learning practical skills to help protect homes and communities when wildfires threaten, including:

💧 Setting up pumps and sprinkler systems to help protect homes.

🏠 Assessing properties and deciding how best to protect them from an approaching wildfire.

🚒 Learning safe and effective ways to fight wildfires around homes and other structures.

We’re proud of the commitment our members continue to show by giving up their weekends to learn new skills that directly benefit our community.

A big thank you to Westlock County for giving our members the opportunity to participate in this valuable training and to the Lesser Slave WUI team for taking the time to pass their valuable WUI knowledge on to municipal departments.

With the completion of this course, many TCES members are now certified WUI Crew Members!

08/07/2026

This week our featured TCES member is Captain Richelle Redekop who responds out of Station 2 in Newbrook.

Station 2 is looking for more members! If you live in the Newbrook area and are interested in learning more please reach out and arrange a station tour!

08/07/2026

Tonight, TCES members took a break from fire attack training to sharpen their vehicle extrication skills.

Newer members, under the guidance of Chief Poulin, learned the fundamentals of vehicle extrication and gained hands-on experience using our Hurst edraulic rescue tools. Meanwhile, experienced members tackled a realistic extrication scenario led by Captain Redekop, practicing everything from scene size-up and incident command to vehicle stabilization, patient extrication, and patient care.

Realistic training like this ensures our members are prepared to respond safely and efficiently when every second counts.

A special thank you to AM PM Towing & Recovery LTD. in Redwater for their continued support by providing vehicles for our extrication training. Your generosity plays a vital role in helping us keep our skills sharp and better serve our community.

08/05/2026

Did You Know?

So far in 2026, Thorhild County Emergency Services (TCES) has responded to 104 emergency calls, putting us on track for another record-setting year for incident volume.

As of the end of July, our responses include:

🚒 Wildland Fires: 7
🚗 Motor Vehicle Collisions: 32
🔥 Vehicle Fires: 10
🏠 Structure Fires: 6
🤝 Mutual Aid Requests: 1
🚑 Medical Assists: 26
🚨 Alarms: 15
⛽ Gas Leaks: 5
⚠️ Public Hazards: 2

One noticeable trend this year has been the significant decrease in wildland fires, thanks in large part to the wet spring and summer. By this time in 2025, TCES had already responded to 21 wildland fires, compared to just 7 this year.

TCES has also seen an increased number of structure fires with 6 so far this year in comparison to 3 this time last year. With increased levels of training, TCES members have gone interior on multiple structure fires resulting in the structures being saved

Calls for medical assistance have continued to rise, increasing from 20 medical assists by the end of July 2025 to 26 during the same period this year.

Every one of these calls represents someone in our community needing help. The dedication of TCES members to pursuing higher levels of training has allowed TCES to provide an increased quality of service resulting in substantially improved outcomes.

08/01/2026

Thorhild County Emergency Services would like to wish everyone a fun, safe, and enjoyable August Long Weekend!

Whether you're spending the weekend at the lake, camping, or travelling to visit family and friends, please make safety a priority!

🚗 Drive safely and be patient—expect increased traffic on our roads.

🥤 Drink responsibly. Plan a safe ride home or arrange to stay the night. Never operate a motor vehicle while impaired.

🛟 Wear a life jacket whenever you're on the water. Ensure children are closely supervised.

🔥 Ensure campfires are completely extinguished before leaving.

Have a great August Long Weekend!