By Kellah Lavoie

Buckland Fire plays in the mud

Aug 15, 2011 | 6:22 AM

The mud was flying Saturday at the Prince Albert Exhibition grounds.

It was Motor Madness, a fundraiser for Buckland Fire and Rescue. The all-day event had live music, a car show, mud bogging, redneck racing, a demolition derby and a smoke show.

It’s the second year for the event, said Travis Turcotte, one of the event organizers and a member of the Buckland fire crew.

“Really we don’t have a goal really with fundraising for us … anything is great, we’re happy with anything,” he said, explaining if they raised $5,000 the event would be a big success.

“This will go to the department as far as outfitting tools for the trucks. We just got into the extrication part of our rescue, which involves high angle rescue, trench rescue and confined space — we are still gathering equipment for that, to be able to do all of those things.”

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The money they raised will also be used to cover operating costs. Buckland is a volunteer fire department that is a non-profit organization.

The event did put on a show for the crowds watching, Turcotte said there is nothing like this north of Prince Albert, so Buckland decided to take the reins.

“We’ve got a lot of rednecks or hillbillies on the department … It’s fun, everybody loves cars, noise, mud, it’s great,” he said.

Tyler Skiftun couldn’t agree more.

The McDowall resident, who refers to where he comes from as “redneck country” has been mud bogging for about 10 years.

“It’s fun and it’s good for the crowd, keeps everybody happy, good for some laughs,” said the 23-year-old, adding that he likes being able to “show other people up.”

It doesn’t come without a small price.

“You get water in the diffs and tranny and got to drain all your oil, breaks and you break an axel every now and then,” he said.

He said the day of fun is worth the money it takes to fix up the vehicle afterwards. For many of the people involved getting dirty is the icing on the cake.

“We’re guys, that’s just the way it works,” Skiftun said, with a laugh.

See related: Let the mud fly
Motor Madness photo gallery

klavoie@panow.com