The WATSON tour made its debut in early July to showcase the new MARK-3® WATSON Edition portable fire pump to wildland Canadian agencies, who are important stakeholders in the pump’s finished product.
Our team of product specialists made their way to Saskatchewan’s third largest city, Prince Albert, where they met with the Environment Wildfire Management and Nisbet Depot teams to gather feedback on the pump’s latest enhancements. A diverse crew of firefighters were present, varying in age, level of expertise and experience in the field.
Comments and feedback
The reduction in weight and size were the most talked-about elements of the WATSON pump: “I love it. It’s smaller but much more powerful.”
Many type 1 recruits don’t have much hands-on experience, leading them to return pumps from the field completely flooded. The lighter, easy-to-carry MARK-3® WATSON pump will definitely be more user-friendly, and the smart user interface will help recruits avoid flooding the engine.
The Nisbet Depot personnel saw numerous additional advantages of the pump’s modern interface. The younger generation of wildland firefighters want smaller and smarter products: “The pump’s interface is very intuitive and user-friendly, it will be a lot easier to use.”
The SK crew left our demo very excited: “I’m very impressed—you guys will undoubtedly get this right.” The team would like to test out a few units before they are distributed throughout the province. The sooner they can get their hands on them, the better prepared they will be in the field.
And that’s a wrap-up! We’re now heading to our last stop of our western Canada tour. What better to finish out west than in the “Gateway to the North,” The Pas, Manitoba! After that, we’ll head back east to the Maritimes.
