Wind whips raging flames

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This article was published 08/10/2011 (5091 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RM OF STUARTBURN — As a “controlled burn” raged close by, with wind whipping up billows of dense smoke, Chris Wiwsionski was on the lookout for a friend’s livestock.

“I’m worried about his cattle back in the bush,” he said at the pasture just west of Stuartburn, where Steinbach firefighters were trying to get the blaze under control.

On Friday afternoon, three fires were raging in that area of southeastern Manitoba, forcing the evacuation of 60 people from their homes. Others in the sparsely populated area were on standby to leave.

Winds gusting up to 90 kilometres per hour weren’t helping, said Mike Purtill with the Office of the Fire Commissioner co-ordinating the battle.

“It’s really difficult with these fires predicting where they will go,” Purtill said at the command centre set up in Vita. The wind direction was expected to change last night from south to north, he said. The prairie is full of “fuel” for the fire after several good growing seasons and a hot, dry summer, making conditions even worse, Purtill said.

The fire commissioner and Manitoba Conservation patrolled the area Friday in a helicopter to plot the plan of attack on the fires. Four water bombers were constantly filling up at Whitemouth Lake 50 kilometres away and dumping on the hot spot near the village of Stuartburn Friday afternoon.

An estimated 75 firefighters and volunteers from all over southern Manitoba were coming to help fight the fires.

“People need help,” said J.P. Berard, one of a group of St. Jean fire department volunteers waiting in Vita for their assignments. “Someone’s got to do it,” said Raheal Sabourin.

Seven fire departments were fighting three fires in the area, and more were on call from as far away as Selkirk.

Another fire was burning just south of the border but reported under control by the U.S. Forest Service.

South of Stuartburn, Manitoba Conservation water bombers targeted a roaring blaze just east of Tolstoi Friday afternoon.

A sign at the side of the road untouched by the blaze burning up the field said it was a tall grass prairie reserve and “critical wildlife habitat.”

The flora and fauna there may have perished, but no people, homes, livestock or “values” had been destroyed as of Friday afternoon, Purtill said.

RCMP closed Highway 201 south of Stuartburn to keep people away from the hot spot. Const. Sylvain Roy, who was preventing vehicles from entering the area, said up to 30 homes and a large dairy farm nearby had been evacuated. He said officials are also focusing firefighting efforts on the community of Caliento to the northeast, another hot spot.

The cause of the fires in the Stuartburn area is not yet known, Purtill said.

Across eastern Manitoba from Bissett south to Stuartburn, the province advised cottagers, hikers, residents and other travellers this weekend to keep a close eye on local conditions and be prepared to leave quickly if smoke or fire conditions change.

No new burning permits will be issued for eastern Manitoba and any permits that have been issued are now cancelled, Manitoba Conservation said in an advisory Friday afternoon. Campfires are still allowed within enclosed firepits.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca