White Powder Calls Use Up $76K in Saskatoon Fire Department Resources
Five ‘white powder’ calls in recent days have used up Saskatoon Fire Department resources totaling $75,650.
“Each instance was determined to be non-hazardous, but each time we have to treat it as a potential safety threat,” says Assistant Chief Wayne Rodger. “So, each time, we have to call out our hazardous materials and emergency measures teams, on top of regular crews – and that costs money.”
Saskatoon police detectives are now investigating the calls. No arrests have been made in the March events, but following a similar incident in November, a Saskatoon woman is accused in court.
During the City Council meeting Monday, the most recent events prompted Councillor and Police Commissioner Darren Hill to ask the City Solicitor to explore seeking restitution in any ‘white powder’ court case which results in a conviction.
“These incidents cause a lot of disruption for the businesses they target, for the people who work in these buildings and for our community,” Rodger says. “If someone is arrested and a judge decides any of these incidents break the law, City Council does not want taxpayers to pay for the emergency response.”
The costs as presented below include the salaries and operating costs of all Fire Department staff who attended the scene of each incident. Also included are costs of off-duty staff called back to provide coverage of stations left vacant during each incident.
Each incident was attended with 7-8 vehicles/apparatus and 23-26 staff.
Date Hours Cost
March 16, 2017 4.00 $20,900.00
March 23, 2017 2.00 $10,500.00
March 27, 2017 2.50 $13,125.00
March 27, 2017 3.00 $15,750.00
March 28, 2017 3.00 $15,375.00
If anyone suspects a package or container they believe has questionable contents:
- do not handle more than necessary
- isolate the area: prevent people access to stop the spread of possible contamination
- call 9-1-1