Steinbach is currently served by its own force of eleven Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, who share facilities with the Highways and Rural Detachment. In cooperation with the RCMP, Steinbach residents are actively involved in the Citizens on Patrol Program.
Click here to view Steinbach RCMP's Reported Occurrence Statistics for 2008 and 2009.
For more information on the Steinbach RCMP detachment, please visit www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/mb/detachments/steinbach_e.htm.
The City has always prided itself on having a dedicated and efficient fire department. With well over 30 highly trained fire fighters/first responders and state-of-the-art equipment, the City can rely on its excellent fire protection.
The result of these services is a city with a very high safety and security rating... a city where you can enjoy an evening stroll and where children are safe to play.
The City of Steinbach first adopted an "Emergency Plan" in 1989, together with the R.M. of Hanover. The Emergency Plan covers emergency situations such as hazardous product fires & spills, explosive hazards, dangerous goods, winter storm hazards, and severe summer storms.
Download the City of Steinbach's Citizens' Emergency Quick Reference Guide.
For a copy of the 72 Hour Emergency Preparedness Guide, click here.
For more information on Emergency Preparedness, go to www.getprepared.gc.ca.
For information on Preparing for Pandemic Influenza in Manitoba, click here.
For information on Business Continuity Planning, click here.
The City is fortunate to have Denis Vassart as its Emergency Planning Coordinator. In 2006, the Coordinator developed a Citizen’s Emergency Quick Reference Guide (copies available at City Hall), and a "Weather Radio" transmitter was put into service. Since 2007, the Coordinator worked on developing a Pandemic Master Plan (together with Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization and South Eastman Health), as well as a Business Continuity Pandemic Plan for the City. The City has developed an Emergency Operations Centre as part of the Steinbach Fire Hall.
The City of Steinbach has an Emergency Operations Centre Team of 16 people. The Team is responsible for implementing the Emergency Plan to prevent or limit the loss of life, harm or damage to the safety, health or welfare of people, damage to property or the environment when an emergency grows beyond the day to day emergency situations normally handled by the Fire Department, Police, Ambulance and/or Public Works. The Team is also responsible for testing the Emergency Plan and making the necessary changes to improve it. A "Full Scale" exercise was conducted in 2009 using a tornado scenario in Steinbach. This test scenario led to some improvements being implemented in our plan.
Current members of Steinbach's Emergency Centre Team are: Davy Lee (RCMP); Denis Vassart (Municipal Emergency Coordinator); Ben Funk (Assistant Municipal Emergency Coordinator); Steve Fehr (Public Information Officer); Amber Reitsma (Assistant Public Information Officer); Russ Dyck (Social Services Director); Randy Reimer (Public Works Manager); Rhona Dundas (EOC Administration Officer); Mark Loewen (Fire Chief); Scott Noble (Health Services); Steve Fehr (Information Officer); Elsie Kathler (Volunteer Coordinator); Ray Fast (Transportation Coordinator); Patrick Cox (Resources Manager); Kerry Snead (Communications Manager) and Eric Muise (EOC Member).
If you are interested in volunteering on the Emergency Operations Centre Team, please contact City Hall at 225 Reimer Avenue, (204) 326-9877.
In 2010, the City of Steinbach will become the first community in Canada to be certified as "Storm Ready."
Click here to view a copy of Steinbach's Storm Ready Brochure.
Our Team consists of about 20 dedicated citizens, working in teams of four and covering the months of May through September as Storm Spotters. Our Storm Ready Team members are residents of, or live in a 10-kilometre radius of Steinbach and volunteer their time to watch the skies during summer months to help keep the citizens of Steinbach aware of possible severe weather that could affect the area.
We partner with the Rest Haven Nursing Home as our first alert point as they have staff on duty 24 hours per day. Our other important link is Goldenwest Radio who will broadcast weather warnings over AM1250 and Mix 96.7 FM.
When needed, the Storm Spotters will be notified by weather radio, text, telephone, or cell phone and asked to watch the sky for signs of a tornado developing. They will then contact the local radio station, Emergency Operations Team, and Environment Canada with this information.
Should a tornado touch down in Steinbach, Spotters will be asked to do a preliminary damage evaluation of their designated area and report this info to the Emergency Operations Team so it can formulate a plan of action and keep the general public informed.
Spotters will be provided with training by Environment Canada as well as guidelines on how to report a sighting and action checklists.
The City’s plan is to have at least six designated sections in Steinbach.
We invite anyone interested to join our Storm Ready Team in making Steinbach a safer place to live and raise a family.
Questions and comments can be directed to the Emergency Planning Coordinator, Denis Vassart, at 392-5996 or by e-mail at dvassart@steinbach.ca.
