The Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) was called to a wildland fire Tuesday at about 1 p.m.
The fire occurred south of Outram and just north of the U.S. border. A number of controlled burns were taking place in that area at the same time, but thanks to the accurate land location given by the caller, firefighters were able to make it to the scene in a timely manner.
The fire was extinguished without incident. However, the results of the investigation into the fire cause were rather disappointing.
“After the investigation of this particular (fire), it appears that it was fairly close to an intersection, which could lead to the cause of the fire possibly being careless discarding of smoking materials,” said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
“But also with all the other controlled burns in the area too, it could have been something that maybe has gotten away from somebody and got into the area that they didn’t want to have burned.”
Crews cleaned up the scene and on the way back to the station they came across another fire that wasn’t called in, didn’t seem to be supervised by anyone and appeared to be out of control. So firefighters suppressed that fire as well. No incident occurred and the cause wasn’t determined for that fire.
Feser reminded farmers and ranchers in the area to always ensure that the controlled burns they are conducting are supervised at all times.
On Monday, the EFRS also conducted their first prescribed burn of the year in the Chinook Bay area. Prescribed burns are aimed at controlling overgrown vegetation to prevent the potential of fires spreading.
“All of the forecasts that we are currently seeing submitted to the fire departments are predicting an extremely dry summer and fall. So we are trying to get some of that stuff on the wildland-urban (areas) under control before it goes under major threat while conditions are favourable,” said Feser.
Fire crews were working at the scene for about six hours Monday and then continued for another three hours on Tuesday trying to get the southeast of the valley. Feser said that there are a few little areas left that they still would like to clean up, but they also have stage 2, in which they would like to go to the other side of the railroad and conduct a controlled burn between the rail line and Highways 39 west. The rains that occurred later this week put a pause on their progress.
Feser said people were pretty receptive and happy about the burn, as it does promote new growth of vegetation and also controls the wood tick population, and helps to fight invasive weed species.
“If we stay on top of it, we’ll make that valley look nice and lush especially after a couple of days of rain … and a couple of days of sunshine,” said Feser.
On Tuesday at about 11:30 a.m. firefighters were also alerted to a commercial fire alarm activation. Crews responded to find out that it was indeed an issue with the fire alarm system and there was no emergency occurring at the location. So crews stood down and returned to the station, while the command vehicle stayed on site and assisted the property manager in troubleshooting.
Feser also reminded people that if they are encountering an emergency, instead of calling police or fire services directly they should dial 911, as it makes the work of all emergency measures organizations more efficient.
“Call 911, so that way all emergency services are alerted at the same time and are dispatched accordingly,” said Feser.
