A blaze in Star City on the weekend had crews from Star City and Melfort battling the blaze and the frigid weather. (Melfort Fire/Facebook)

By Cam Lee

Cold firefight

Firefighting in extreme cold an even more challenging battle

Jan 26, 2026 | 1:12 PM

Residents across the province were bundling up and doing everything they could to avoid the bone-chilling weather on the weekend.

But – what is it like when that’s not an option?

That was the case for fire crews in Melfort on the weekend as they battled fires in both Melfort and Star City.

After fighting a furnace fire and responding to a false alarm, the Melfort Fire Department (MFD) briefly responded to a vehicle fire on MacLeod Ave. E., as temperatures hovered around –35 C with a slight breeze.

On the following day, the MFD joined Star City fire crews for a longer battle with a house fire in Star City. Temperatures were even colder, with wind chills approaching the mid –40 C range.

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Melfort Fire Chief Leonard Whitney told northeastNOW that turnout gear provides some protection from both fires and the elements.

“But we do have to make sure that we’re taking regular breaks to let our team get warmed up, so they don’t get a chill and get sick, and get them off the fire line,” Whitney said.

Whitney said members were rotate to different positions to give them a chance to warm up, and crews went back into the trucks to take a few minutes to thaw out.

The fire crews aren’t the only concern during a fire call during the extreme cold. Fire equipment needs to be properly used and monitored when the temperature drops.

“Our equipment, of course, is very valuable to us, and we want to make sure that we’re making sure that it’s not freezing up,” Whitney explained. “Our training involves how to pump water when it’s cold like that and ensure that our pumps keep pumping and don’t freeze up. It is a bit of a process to make sure that we can keep them going.”

Another concern during colder weather is that the hydrants can freeze. Whitney said fortunately, the hydrant in Star City worked perfectly during the firefight on Saturday.

“It couldn’t have went any better with the conditions being as brutal as they were.”

Whitney said unfortunately, they don’t get to choose the weather when they respond to a call, and during calls when the weather is frigid, they do everything they can to stay warm just like everybody else.

Perhaps the most infamous cold weather firefight in Melfort’s history was the Broadway School fire in 1956.

A fire at Broadway School in Melfort in January of 1956 was fought in temperatures similar to those faced by firefighters this weekend. (Photo courtesy Melfort and District Museum)

Crews battled the blaze in extreme cold, and the husk of the school was covered in a thick layer of ice after the fire was finally extinguished.

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com