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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
'Huge heart' dies in grass fire
JOHN Froese was a farmer, husband and father who followed his faith in church and in life.
Froese died on Thursday after a grass fire on his land got out of control and trapped him in a shed on his property.
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Froese was 78.
Ray Willms, community pastor at Portage Alliance Church, said on Friday Froese and his wife, Irene, were regular parishioners for many years. The couple had at least two daughters, he said.
"Just last Sunday night he was at our evening worship service with his wife and we chatted briefly," Willms said.
"They were praying about something and they were so close together I thought it was a wonderful picture. I thought it was so cool and I was so happy for both of them.
"I just can't believe half of that equation is gone."
A family member at Froese's house said they didn't want to comment at this time.
RCMP are still investigating what happened on Froese's farm, located a few kilometres southeast of Portage la Prairie, near Southport.
RCMP and firefighters rushed to the farm just after 2 p.m., and after the blaze was extinguished, they found Froese's body in the shed.
An autopsy has been scheduled and the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner is also investigating.
RCMP spokesman Const. Miles Hiebert said farmers and others have to be careful with grass fires and recognize how dangerous they are, especially with this spring's dry conditions.
"The end result of this is it was a tragedy," Hiebert said.
"It took an entire local fire department to put this fire out, so one person couldn't. We tell people to just phone 911 and let the professionals do it."
Police are continuing to investigate, Hiebert said.
Doug Chorney, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said when farmers start fires to control weeds or clear fields "we always try to be cautious on our own farms.
"We take every precaution we can. This shows how little time you have to react. Fire moves very quickly."
Willms said Froese was a healthy and spry man who walked briskly.
Froese would go out of his way to help people, whether he knew them or not, Willms said. He would buy strangers who couldn't afford it a coffee, and he would use his pickup truck and round up his friends with trucks to help people move.
"He had a huge heart for people who were underprivileged," he said.
"He had a heart of compassion. Justice was a big thing to him. He would be really upset when he saw marginal groups being ignored.
"He was a seven-day-a-week Christian... This community will sadly miss him."
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 28, 2012 B2
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