A firefighters union in Yorkton, Sask., that complained about non-firefighters who put out a house blaze has dropped its grievance.

The Yorkton Professional Fire Fighters Association dropped the grievance against fire Chief Dean Clark earlier this week, saying it doesn't want to damage relationships with the city. It had alleged the city workers who put out the fire violated a "no contracting out" clause of the firefighters' collective agreement.

The dispute began in April, when a crew doing some spring cleaning using a water truck noticed smoke coming from a nearby house.

The two-man public works crew drove by to take a look and were immediately approached by Clark, who had been first on the scene and asked them if they had any water in the truck. Firefighters had not yet arrived at that point.

After the men said they had some water in the tank, the chief asked them to turn their hose on the flames.

Joseph Harden, who was with the crew, said they didn't hesitate to help.

"We gave her all we got on the side of the house and brought the fire down," said Harden, who's with the public works department.

The city commended the workers for their actions. They also received an award from the RCMP.

According to the fire chief, using the water truck saved thousands of dollars in damage.

"What is a person supposed to do?" Harden asked in a CBC interview on Wednesday after learning the grievance was dropped. "We were in the right place at the right time with a water truck."

The union didn't return calls from CBC.