City Firefighters Honoured

(From left) Swift Current Firefighters Dean Diguer, Kent Silbernagel and Rod Smith receive Governor General Commendations from Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Schofield

A special ceremony last night honoured eight members of the Swift Current City Fire Department for their years of service and their bravery.

Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Schofield presented Governor General Commendations to Captain Rod Smith, and firefighters Kent Silbernagel and Dean Diguer, who responded to a dramatic water rescue in Swift Current Creek during last spring's flooding, where a man was plucked from his van that ended up in the fast-flowing creek.

"It doesn't happen every day to everyone, so in that respect it's definitely a privilege and and a very big honour for myself and the other firefighters as well." Silbernagel said.

The three firefighters still had vivid memories of that rescue just more than a year after it happened: "I didn't realize we were going to crash our boat... the water was quite strong," Smith said. "We did our best and the outcome was certainly good, but was a little tense there for a while."

"Myself, personally, that was the first water rescue I've had to do out of a boat," Diguer said. "The first one's always the hardest, and just with anything else that you don't do a lot of, you never really know what to expect."

The Lieutenant Governor also presented 20-year Exemplary Service medals to five long-time members of the fire department, Captains Wyatt Evans and Jerry Funk, and firefighters Greg Campbell, Rick Anderson and Trevor Braun.

(From left) Exemplary Service Medal recipients Jerry Funk, Trevor Braun, Wyatt Evans, Greg Campbell, and Rick Anderson

Smith, Silbernagel and Diguer talked with reporters after the ceremony.

Captain Rod Smith:



Firefighter Kent Silbernagel:



Firefighter Dean Diguer: