Firefighters in Yorkton and Canora battled a rash of blazes across their communities last weekend.
A series of fires around Yorkton kept the fire department busy from Oct. 17-18.
“[The] first one was Tuesday at noon,” said Fire Chief Trevor Morrissey. “[They went] until Wednesday at 1 p.m.”
Morrissey said the fire department responded to nine fires throughout the community. They covered a wide stretch of land, even going as far as Wroxton. They made sure every spot had enough water to contain the blazes.
High winds made their work difficult. Strong gusts tore through Yorkton as firefighters contained the flames.
“Wind will fire things up,” Morrissey said.
Farm yards were a major concern for the fire department. They made it a priority to keep the flames away from the acreages.
“There was minor loss of farming equipment,” he said.
Morrissey said controlled burns that spiralled out of containment may have started some of the fires. The fire department discovered tiger torches at certain sites.
“Make sure a controlled burn is controlled,” he said.
Morrissey instituted a temporary fire ban after the blazes were contained. The fire department kept an eye on the doused spots to make sure they didn’t spark up again.
“We need to exercise caution when the wind gets up,” he said.
Firefighters in Canora also responded to a large fire near Good Spirit Lake. They were unavailable for a comment as we went to press.
