Home » Martensville Fire Chief Encourages Residents to Sign Up For SaskAlert

Martensville Fire Chief Encourages Residents to Sign Up For SaskAlert

by Shanine Sealey

The Martensville Fire Department will be utilizing the Government of Saskatchewan’s emergency public alert program SaskAlert from now on instead of their previous program ‘NotifyNow’.


SaskAlert notifies public regarding emergencies in real time, providing residents with information so they can protect themselves, their families and their property. Emergency alerts through this system will let you know what the emergency is, let you know where it is happening, provide instructions for you to follow to stay safe and advise you when the incident is over.


Martensville Fire Chief Kurtis Dyck explained that this switch was necessary to ensure that as many residents are reached as possible in an emergency situation. With the previous program, residents had to sign up in order to receive notifications; however, with the new system in place, critical broadcasts are sent to all cellphones, TV’s radios, etc. within a specific area.


“We weren’t getting enough numbers to really make a difference so people would know if something serious was going on. The goal is to reach as many people as possible in those kinds of situations, so we decided to see what our options were,” Dyck said.


Although critical broadcasts, such as an amber alert, or something similar, are sent out to everyone within a certain area, to receive emergency advisories, residents are still required to sign up and from there, can choose what alerts they want to receive.


The MFD has taken the training that allows them to send out emergency advisories to the community when needed.
“An example of a notice we would send would be if there was a fire nearby and we predict that the wind is going to turn direction and create a thick smoke in the area, we can send out an emergency advisory alert to notify people to close their windows,” Dyck explained.


NotifyNow is no longer being utilized, so Dyck recommends Martensville residents to download the SaskAlert app on their phones and sign up to ensure they are receiving all notices affecting the area.

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