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Let it snow, or even rain. That’s the wish of recently-appointed deputy fire chief Gerald Yaremy with the Britannia Fire Department to put an end to the unseasonably dry conditions sooner rather than later.
There’s been no wildfires this season in the RM of Britannia, but Yaremy’s fingers are crossed for a big dump of snow to put some moisture in the ground by the spring.
“If we don’t get some timely snow or some rain in the spring, it might make for an interesting summer,” he said last Thursday.
“I drive around and I see how many dry slough beds there are that we used to draw water from in case of emergency. Seeing those dry up is quite concerning.”
He says finding water could be a problem depending on where they are in the RM.
Yaremy thinks this is the driest winter so far during his 25 years as a firefighter.
Despite warmer and drier-than-normal conditions in the area, throughout December and into the new year, the fire department hasn’t responded to any grass fires or anything yet.
“We really haven’t had any issues,” said Yaremy chalking it up to luck.
“We haven’t had any bans or restrictions. We’re just asking those in the RM to obtain a burn permit as normal. I would say just exercise caution and obtain permits if something is big enough.”
Yaremy is optimistic everything will be okay with cooler weather on the way along with an eventual big dump of snow to end the dry spell.
“We have 22 (residents) in the houses. We have three that are returning this week, from treatment programs. We’re trying to work on figuring out a solution for them,” said Lorenz.
“For the day programming, our facilitators here will be getting lay-off notices this week. We do a lot of practicums here, which are definitely going to be affected.”
Michael Sadownick was referred to Residents in Recovery nearly a year ago, and he says their sober living program changed his life, and possibly even saved him.
“I was pretty much drinking myself to death. I ended up getting necrotizing pancreatitis which put me in the ICU for two and a half months and it gave me Type 1 diabetes,” said Sadownick.
“That was two years ago. I wasn’t able to quit drinking on my own. I continued to drink and get pancreatitis up until I put myself into detox at Larsen House in Saskatoon and they referred me to Residents in Recovery sober living.”
He said he arrived at Residents in Recovery with no GED, no learner’s licence, very little education, and no support from any family members. He had never been sober for longer than a month or two in his adult life.
Now, less than a year later, with their support he was able to obtain his GED and learner’s licence.
He was also able to reconnect with his father, which he says is a very important stepping stone in his journey.
“Everything that this program has done—it saved my life. Like I don’t know where I would be right now, I would probably … be homeless or in the hospital,” said Sadownick.
“Without this program being here in Lloydminster, the amount of relapses and deaths that are probably going to happen … even this winter—people having to leave and maybe not being able to find somewhere to go, is going to be staggering I think.”
Sadownick said he struggles to understand the logic of the situation Residents in Recovery is currently facing.
“It doesn’t make any sense why the government wouldn’t fund Residents in Recovery when they’re funding the treatment centres that are referring people here,” said Sadownick.
“The governments are so set on the old treatment model of everybody coming to them to do treatment in these big facilities and it’s just never worked, and it’s not magically going to start working today. Programs like these really make a difference,” said Lorenz, who knows first-hand what is needed to get on, and stay on the right path.
“If people want to help they can write their MLA, write the government. Tell them their thoughts on not funding community-based programs like this,” said Lorenz.
