Thirty-five people waited out a snowstorm inside the Rosthern Fire Hall on the night of March 7. (submitted photo/Darcy Hrycuik)

By Alison Sandstrom

Shelter from the storm

P.A. mayor applauds Rosthern’s act of kindness

Mar 17, 2020 | 7:51 PM

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne is penning a thank you letter to the town of Rosthern after the community sheltered motorists stranded by a severe winter storm earlier this month.

As heavy snowfall and high winds created near whiteout conditions on parts of the highway between P.A. and Saskatoon on the night of Saturday, March 7, the Rosthern Fire Hall opened its doors to travellers, including several P.A. families.

In total around 35 people spent the night playing cards, sipping coffee and eating snacks while volunteer firefighters kept them company in rotating shifts.

An easy decision

Volunteer Fire Chief Darcy Hrycuik told paNOW it was around 10 p.m. when one of his crew members received a call from the manager of the local Co-op. Several vehicles had pulled off the highway and were sheltering in the store’s parking lot.

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He explained the decision to open the fire hall to the motorists was “easy.”

“We have a facility that’s designed for emergencies, so of course,” he said. “I think [our members] looked at it as, if it was their sister or their mother, they’d want them to come in and hang out rather than try to drive.”

Rosthern volunteer firefighters also patrolled the community and area around the highway looking for unfamiliar cars and inviting them to the hall. In some cases, Hrycuik said his members had to talk people into spending the night.

“We just wanted to make sure people were safe,” he said. “And we’d rather they come and stay for a while then have to go and get them out of the ditch.”

Around 5 a.m. with snowplows out on the highway, most of the motorists got back on the road.

‘A totally different level of service’

While sheltering them might have seemed like the natural thing to do for the volunteer firefighters, the gravity of what Rosthern did for the travellers is not lost on Dionne.

“There was a need and Rosthern didn’t hesitate to open up and help – and these are people that they didn’t even know,” Dionne told paNOW. “It’s easy to help your neighbour or a friend, but when you open your door to people that are strangers that’s a totally different level of service.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom