Fire fighters in the Energy City were up bright and early on Monday morning on a call.

"At 5:43 AM fire crews were called to the report of a fire alarm activation at a residential dwelling in the south central portion of the city. Upon arrival there was no visible smoke or flames from the exterior of the building. The homeowner was located inside the building and met EFR at the front door," shared Fire Chief Dale Feser.

"It was found to be a cooking related fire alarm. There wasn't enough smoke in the home to warrant any further ventilation or any further actions by Estevan Fire Rescue, so we turned the scene back over to the homeowner and returned to the station."

Stemming out of that incident, the Chief had some advice for residents with monitoring devices in their residence.

"Make sure that you're contacting your monitoring agency and that the homeowner is the first point of contact, prior to contacting the fire department. It all depends on what type of monitoring system you may have in your home. Most systems actually have a voice activated or a speaker system in the wall panel through which the monitoring agency is supposed to get a hold of you to see if there is any fire department actions that are required."

"Also, make sure that all occupants within the structure know the pin-pass for the fire alarm system, so that way they can enter the security code and nullify any further action on behalf of the fire department. Once we are notified of an emergency, we do have to indeed respond to verify that there is no emergency at that particular location," he said.

Crews have responded to a few other alarms over the past few days, including one where the homeowner was attempting to repair his monitoring device. Feser advises that, if you choose to carry out such work, to call the monitoring agency and let them know.

On another note, EFRS is advising the public that they will be conducting training on the 1300 block of 8th Street between the hours of 7:00 and 9:00 PM on Monday night. If you see smoke or hear loud noises, there's nothing to worry about. In an effort to hone fire fighters' skills to keep people safe, they'll be engaging in realistic exercises involving a smoke machine and smoke bombs, in addition to chainsaws and ventilation fans. They ask that residents respect the road blocks during that time so no one gets hurt.