It’s a double whammy for Fire Chief Morgan Hackl as he looks back at the highlights for the Saskatoon Fire Department in 2023, because it’s also his last full year as Chief. He will be retiring next year, sometime before the end of March.

Hackl says one of the highlights for 2023 is one that has been discussed for years. He explains that the regional training facility completed Phase One, and the first training session.

“Over 30 years ago, these discussions were occurring and here we are today, finished the Phase One and we had the first live fire training in the fall. So now we will continue to work on the next phases which includes an indoor training arena at the regional facility which would operate 365 days a year.”  Another highlight was the budget approval in November to start building two west end stations, one in the northwest and one in the southwest.

The biggest challenge for the SFD is the work around mental health, substance use disorders and people who are unhoused.  It includes proactive work engaging with those who are homeless and the reactive work of responding to overdoses and other mental health and substance use issues. The Fire Department includes 140 Primary Care Paramedics in its firefighting staff of 285.

The plans for 2024 include advancing the regional training facility in the R.M. of Corman Park and working towards an agreement with the provincial government.  Chief Hackl says, “SFD is one of the most progressive, most comprehensive fire services in the country and when we work in that way, we are supporting other levels of government, so we just want to work together to define who SFD is into the future.”