Brandon's emergency crews had a busy Friday morning. Emergency crews dealt with four back-to-back structure fires, spread throughout the city. Brandon Fire and Emergency Services and Brandon Police Service were first called to a structure fire in the 700 block of 9th St, with reports of a porch on fire. When fire crews arrived, the porch and rear portion of a dwelling was on fire. As crews were battling the first fire, they were notified of a second structure fire in the 100 block of 3rd St. There crews found a duplex with heavy fire on the side, and in the rear of the building. BFES's aerial ladder truck was used to gain access to the roof of the duplex. While fighting the 3rd St fire, crews were notified of two more structure fires. One in the 1100 block of 7th St, and the other in the 1000 block of Russel St. The fire on 7th St was extinguished by police before the arrival of fire crews. The fire in the 1000 block of Russel St consisted of a shed, trees, fence, and rubbish that were all fully involved with fire. BFES Fire Captain Marv Janzen said, "We responded to multiple fire incidents on the early morning of May 10th. Four separate fire sites, and all fires are currently under investigation." When asked if any of the fires were related, Janzen said, "We are still investigating that."

Brandon Firefighter Paramedics were recognized on Wednesday with the Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal. Inspectors Szabo and Lamerz as well as Firefighter Paramedics Aitken, Lang and Brown were those honoured. The Medal was created in 1985, it honours members of a recognized Canadian fire service who have completed 20 years of service, ten years of which have been served in the performance of duties involving potential risks, and were employed on or after the date of creation of the Medal. Although the medal is originally awarded for 20 years of exemplary service, Captain Ritchie was the recipient of the 30 year service bar. The additional bars honour Firefighters that continue to serve with 30, 40, and 50 years of service. Captain Matthews, Lieutenant Collister, Training Officer Lefebvre and acting Lieutenant Wilton were recognized by the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs. The Fire Fighter’s Long Service Medal was created by the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs in 2005 to recognize the contributions of the members of the Manitoba Fire Service who have dedicated 25 years to the needs of the residents of the communities that they serve. Local Firefighter Paramedics who have successfully fulfilled five years of dedicated service with your Brandon Fire and Emergency Service Department and achieved the level of first class were also recognized. Firefighter Paramedic Paziuk, Worrall, Tannas and Stott received their official Department badge. Accompanying the service recognition the department also officially celebrated the promotions of acting Lieutenant Garrioch and Deputy Fire Chief Potter. (Submitted)

On Wednesday afternoon, Brandon Fire and Emergency Service, Brandon Police Service, and Manitoba Hydro attended an area of Richmond Ave East for a natural gas leak. The odour of natural gas, along with a strong hissing sound were present in the area. Police closed Richmond Ave East from Douglas Street to Garwood Drive as a precautionary measure. After the scene was assessed and determined to be safe, the incident was left in the hands of Manitoba Hydro, and all emergency crews cleared within the hour.

Manitoba Infrastructure’s Emergency Measures Organization is reminding Manitobans the National Public Alerting System, Alert Ready, is scheduled to issue an emergency alert test message on multiple communications channels tomorrow, Wednesday, May 8 at 1:55 p.m. Not all Manitobans will receive the test alert on their wireless device.  This may occur for a variety of reasons including device compatibility, connection to an LTE network, cell tower coverage and individual device software and settings.   Visit www.alertready.ca/ to learn more.

On Tuesday afternoon, Brandon Fire and Emergency Services and Brandon Police Service responded to an apartment building at the intersection of 20th St and Queens Ave for a report of smoke in the building. Firefighter/paramedics gained entry and found smoke in the electrical room of the building. A positive pressure ventilation fan (PPV fan) was set up at the front door to vent the building of smoke. Nobody was injured, and crews were able to clear within the hour.