The Southern Emergency Response Committee (SERC) had its first full deployment when called to the Southeastern Manitoba wildfires earlier this month.
    
Public Information Officer Mark Bennett says it is the role of SERC to support the efforts of the Office of the Fire Commissioner, and locate any supplies needed by emergency crews. He adds they also act as a liaison between the ground efforts and the municipality or council in the area. Bennett says this was exactly what they were able to do during the fires in the Vita area.

Bennett says it was nice to see the years of training they have gone through shine as they were able arrive on site and set up the emergency operations centre. Because it was their first full deployment, he notes it was a bit of a learning experience.

He says a few of the things they took away from the experience were interestingly enough not really related to the event itself. Those things included learning it was always important to have battery chargers on hand and gear to set up wireless networks. Bennett says their training really showed, and they handled themselves well. He adds they have been trained as a group, and it was great to see it in action.