Motor vehicle collisions have been the leading reason for emergency calls in the Rural Municipality of Taché, Manitoba, for the third consecutive year. Official RM of Taché logs show the fire department responded to 38 motor-vehicle collisions in 2025 (out of 138 total emergency responses), a total that exceeds the combined number of structure and wildland fire responses. MVCs therefore accounted for roughly 25–30% of the department’s calls in 2025.
Local officials and department leaders say many of these incidents occur along the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) corridor, a busy commuter route to Winnipeg. The RM and local news reporting have identified specific hot zones in the municipality — including Highway 1 near Dufresne and the intersection of Highway 1 and PR 206 — where higher-speed collisions have been frequent. Fire Chief Allan Rau says the combination of high speeds and icy winter roads keeps the department’s three stations (Lorette, Landmark and Ste. Geneviève) busy throughout the year.
The high number of highway responses has shifted departmental priorities and spending. The department — staffed by more than 40 paid-on-call members — is now directing funds toward technical-rescue gear and training. As reported in SteinbachOnline, the department is looking at purchasing vehicle-stabilization struts and investing in live training facilities to improve vehicle-extrication capabilities.
There is also concern for the safety of firefighters working at crash scenes on busy roads. In a 2022 Global News interview, Chief Rau warned that drivers often pass active scenes at high speed, creating close calls for responders. More recently, CBC has reported multi-vehicle crashes and closures on stretches of Highway 1, underscoring the broader highway safety risks that affect both drivers and first responders. Council and provincial road-safety stakeholders are increasingly being asked to consider engineering and enforcement measures to reduce those risks.
Rising apparatus costs add to the pressure on municipal budgets: the department and RM council say purchases such as stabilization equipment must now compete with ever-higher prices for fire trucks and pumpers, which have exceeded $1 million in recent years.
