Sarah Mills: Help is needed for wildfire evacuees in Saskatchewan
The wildfire situation in Saskatchewan may be turning a corner, but the damage will be felt for some time. On this Day o...
By Derek Cornet
An experienced firefighter is recovering in a Saskatoon hospital from a collapsed lung and other ailments that arose while on the line of duty in Pelican Narrows.
Brady Highway, who has been a firefighter for 31 years and serves as a technical specialist, was supervising members of the Warman Fire Department about two weeks ago when he realized he just could not go on any longer.
Read more:
- Sask. wildfires update: Weather helps high-risk areas, fire ban changes
- Saskatchewan Ombudsman to conduct investigation on wildfire response
- Candle Lake residents breathe sigh of relief after weekend rain
He was transported to the nearby Angelique Canada Health Centre and sent to Prince Albert via Saskatchewan Air Ambulance, before making his way to Saskatoon’s St. Paul’s Hospital. Since then, he has experienced complications from a collapsed lung and has undergone surgery, with another expected to happen soon.
“This is my seventh collapsed lung,” Highway explained.
“I woke up that morning just really concerned that this was actually happening again. I was in denial, and I just kept on working through, hoping it would go away, but come about 3 p.m., it became unbearable. When you are going through an injury like that, you just cannot continue. You put the lives of yourself and your crew members at risk.”
Having fought fires for the last three decades, Highway explained the situation in 2025 is on the far side of extreme.
“There were multiple starts with fires that were merging, conditions that were … beyond normal suppression capacity,” he said, noting he will be back firefighting as soon as he is given the go-ahead by doctors.
“This is a marathon. This season is going to go on for quite some time, so I do have to pace myself, considering what I have just gone through.”
When asked about his thoughts on the vast majority of the fires being human-caused, with some even being set deliberately, Highway said it baffles him why people would engage in such an act.
“There’s nothing that creeps me out more than arsonists because what goes through an individual’s mind when they are actively trying to take out a community, put lives at risk?” he added.
“There are a number of us out here who are just trying our best and are engaged in a fire and then all of a sudden … there’s a new start and there’s another start. I just don’t understand what is going on through the minds of these people.”
Since being hospitalized, Highway has received an outpouring of support from fellow firefighters, family members and the public. He’d like to thank the health care professionals who attended to him in his time of need, saying their prompt response likely saved his life.
