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Vol. 16, No. 38, Wednesday, August 18, 2021 www.LamontLeader.com
3 farm fires last week BY JANA SEMENIUK A Monday morning downpour of rain was music to Bruderheim Deputy Fire Chief Al Klassen’s ears. “I was so happy to hear the rain,” he said in a recent interview. “I thought, maybe we won’t get a call today.” Last week a cluster of three separate farm fires saw hundreds of acres damaged and near misses for the families’ homes. The drama began Wednesday with a call to emergency crews at 12:25 p.m. when farm equipment sparked the first fire near Bruderheim on Range Road 195 and Township 572. “The wind was really strong that day and didn’t help us at all. That fire started inside a baler and was smoking pretty good when we got there,” said Klassen. “The person who called said there were 160 acres on fire.” Klassen said that additional help from the Lamont County Public Works Department was needed. “There was a stack of bales on fire at least 30 feet tall,” he said. “It had to be broken apart so we could put it out which is where the Public Works employees come in. They use their heavy equipment to break up the bale stack while it’s on fire. Very dangerous. These guys never get enough credit.” Klassen said fire crews spent most of the evening extinguishing the fire. “We were finally done about 10:30 p.m.,” he said. Meanwhile, a call came in to emergency crews Friday afternoon reporting another fire near where Wednesday’s fire occurred.
“This fire was just east of Range Road 200 and Township Road 572,” he said. “This one was also started by a baler.”
that were threatened as well as buildings and equipment. The fire on Wednesday was confined strictly to brush and field, but this time there
Above, left, Bruderheim area farmer Larry Kozia drives his tractor through a field fire on Aug.13 as flames consume the hay around him and jump up past his tires to nip at the tractor cab. Right, he drives to a safer area to see the vastness of the damage. The fire in a field near Range Road 200 and Township Road 572 was started when agricultural equipment was taking the dry crop off the field. Although the wind had died down from Wednesday, Klassen said battling the blaze was still challenging. “This time there were three farms
were homes threatened,” he said. “There was also a 1,000-pound propane tank we were a little worried about.”
A farm fire near Bruderheim on Aug. 13 picks up steam just as emergency crews were called. The blaze was caused by farm equipment. Photo: Jana Semeniuk.
Klassen added that although the fire was threatening, no one had to be evacuated which he credits to good work from the land owners. “These land owners practiced fire smarting their yard, which is keeping the yard clean around buildings, and grass cut. The fire pretty much stopped right at their grass line,” he said. “It pays to keep a clean yard and not have a lot of debris around.” While the first two fires were attributed to farm equipment, another fire was reported early Saturday morning of unknown cause. “This fire was just south of Highway 15 and the call came in at 1:30 a.m.,” said Klassen. “There were 90 bales on fire. It was pretty much an inferno when we got there.” Klassen said a lack of manpower limited how fire crews could manage the blaze. “We only had two trucks and a few people. We couldn’t get additional resources until about 7 a.m.,” he said. “So we didn’t let the fire advance by putting out hotspots but we had to let it burn until we could get more people and water.” While Klassen was grateful the wind was on their side, he said the cause of the fire was unknown. “We can only say it’s suspicious at this point,” he said. “Luckily there was hardly any wind in the night.” Information on fire smarting your home can be found at firesmartcanada.ca.
Bruderheim area farmer Larry Kozia took this photo of hay bales burning in a field near Range Road 200 and Township Road 572 on Aug. 13.
