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Half a dozen volunteer fire departments were in Prince Albert this weekend to test their skills in a friendly competition.
The 2026 Saskatchewan First Nation Firefighting Competition ran Saturday at the Prince Albert Exhibition Grounds with six First Nations communities taking part, including Black Lake, Hall Lake, Fond du Lac, and Cumberland House, as Sturgeon Lake and Little Red River made their debuts at the event.
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The event also welcomed a pair of junior teams to the competition hailing from Black Lake and Fond du Lac, which was the first time junior firefighters were a part of the event.
Michelle Vandevord, director of the Saskatchewan First Nation Emergency Management (SFNEM), said she hopes this will pave the way for more youth to try out firefighting and possibly take it up as a career.
“They’ve been learning from the veterans on the volunteer fire departments. They came out to give it a try themselves and next year, [we’re] hoping that they’ll be competing with all of our senior teams.”
The event began Saturday morning with an opening ceremony, including O Canada, a prayer, and traditional drumming. Teams were then put to the test, where they performed a series of challenging firefighter evolutions that showcased their strength, skills, teamwork, and emergency response training.
Teams were judged throughout the event and ranked via a point system, with the winning fire department moving on to represent Saskatchewan at the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council’s (NIFSC) 37th annual National Firefighting Competition in Saskatoon from Oct. 24-27.
In addition to championship status, one team got to walk away as the inaugural winner of the Georgie McDonald Sportsmanship Award. McDonald was a familiar face to the competition as he both competed in and supported the event for more than 20 years. He passed away last year after a battle with cancer.
“That was one huge thing that Georgie loved to do; he loved the competition and he was so good at just having fun and getting everybody pumped up about the evolutions and teamwork. One thing that we have on the plaque that everybody who ever worked with Georgie will recognize is just one word and the word is ‘Think’. That’s something he always shared with his team is ‘Think’” Vandevord said.
Custom medals were made for the winning team that don McDonald’s face along with the word ‘Think’. Vandevord added that the judges wouldn’t be handing out that award, but rather the competitors themselves.
“Each one of the teams here gets one vote, as a team, to vote one of the other teams as most sportsmanlike.”
By the time of publication, the winners of the competition and sportsmanship award were not yet made publicly available.
Female firefighters dwindle
One thing that Vandevord couldn’t help but notice about this year’s event is the lack of women, as she said it’s most likely the first time that no women were competing amongst the teams.
As a woman in firefighting herself, she added how she recently became the first female Fire Chief of Muskoday First Nation after volunteering there for 27 years and that the job couldn’t be more rewarding.
“At the heart of firefighting, I tell everybody it’s just that desire of volunteerism and to give back to your community. You don’t have to be fit, you don’t have to be strong, you just need to have a big heart and love your community and love your people. I know we have lots of those people in our communities and a lot of our females who could really help our fire departments on reserve.”
She explained that firefighting wasn’t even her first choice as a career, and it all started with a tap on the shoulder as it does with most volunteer firefighters. Her introduction to firefighting came from the late Randy Bair.
“If it wasn’t for him, I never would have become a firefighter, and I also wouldn’t have put an application in for [the SFNEM]. He encouraged me to do that. We worked at the fire hall together and he was first to apply for [SFNEM] and he’s like, ‘it’s a great job you’d love this’. I’ve now been with [SFNEM] for nine years now and I love this job.”
Like McDonald, Bair also passed away from cancer in 2021 after spending more than 40 years as a first responder.
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