January 23rd, 2018
Wednesday January 10, 2018 was a momentous day for the City of Saskatoon and North Saskatchewan Division. That day, The New York Times included Saskatoon on its list of 52 places to visit in 2018. A pleasant surprise to many locals, who have been experiencing severe cold weather conditions wreaking havoc on their infrastructure.
On that same day, Commissionaire Don Field, a video surveillance officer at SaskPolyTech, had a more seasonally-appropriate experience. While dispatching the Cmres on security patrol, he noticed something strange in one of the hallways of the main building. As he went to investigate he witnessed a large volume of water fall through the ceiling, one of the boilers had given out and was discharging all of its hot water. Because of Don’s investigative actions, SaskPolyTech staff members were able to respond quickly and effectively, unencumbered by students walking through the area, minimizing the overall damage to the building.
This is not the first time the 2017/2018 gruelling Saskatoon winter has caused a stir this season.
On December 24, 2017, Cmre Ted Brown heard an alarm ringing while on mobile patrol at the SaskPolyTech Ontario campus. When he stopped to investigate, he discovered water on the floor by the north door. He left the site, only briefly, to grab the access key to the building. Upon his return, Ted found the water had risen at an alarming rate. Insctinctively, he set-up barriers to force the water out the door. His quick-thinking resulted in SaskPolyTech saving thousands of dollars in potential structural damage.