The rising risk of wildland-urban interface fires has prompted the Saskatoon Fire Department to host a new training seminar. 

SFD Acting Assistant Fire Chief Travis Brehaut says the ‘Responding to the Interface’ training program is being hosted in partnership with the International Association of Firefighters, with instructors from across North America making an appearance in Saskatoon.  

He explains that wildland-urban interface fires exist on the boundary of rural and urban land and pose a serious threat to communities and infrastructure.  The course offers firefighters 10 hours of online learning, a one-day classroom session, and a hands-on field training portion.  

The hands-on portion of the course will be visible Tuesday at the far east end of Adilman Drive. Brehaut says firefighters will be “deploying hose lines and moving quicky’ starting at noon. 

“It’s a lot different than structural firefighting, which our firefighters are used to. There are different strategies and tactics and hose deployments, just a different way of going about an urban interface fire.” 

Participants will then be able to take what they learned and share it will the rest of their department as part of this ‘train the trainer’ program. They will be able to share the knowledge with the Warman, Martensville and Dalmeny fire departments, as well. 

Wildland-urban interface fires have ravaged numerous Prairie communities in recent years, including Denare Beach, La Ronge, and Beauval this year, and Jasper in 2024.