Weekend brush fires threaten properties, keep emergency crews hopping

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Ali Khavari is grateful his home is still standing after a fast-moving fire tore through a field near Fermor Avenue, just inside the Perimeter Highway, Sunday evening.

Khavari wasn’t home when flames broke out shortly before 6 p.m. along a stretch of land adjacent to the CN Rail line.

“It came within probably (three metres of my house),” he said Monday. “I’m lucky. Maybe the wind pushed it back.”

Khavari’s home, located at the end of Goodenough Road, was spared. But other parts of his property didn’t fare as well. Roughly 60 metres of fencing was destroyed, along with eight or nine vehicles he keeps on the land. Khavari also operates a business on nearby Symington Road.

“It’s a lot of damage,” he said.

Emergency crews shut down eastbound lanes of Fermor from Symington Road to Navin Road while more than a dozen fire and paramedic units responded. The road was reopened shortly after 7 p.m.

Next door, Arthur Benjamin — owner of Industrial Trailer Sales — said the fire damaged one of his trailers.

“If it wasn’t for my guys, we would have lost the whole thing,” he said Monday.

His employees managed to keep the fire from spreading by using a garden hose, and the damaged trailer is repairable.

“Thank god they were there,” he said.

Benjamin said it was the second fire in the area in just two weeks. The previous blaze started near the Fermor overpass and reached Wintec Building Services, about three kilometres east.

Sunday’s blaze, he said, originated near Wintec and travelled through the grass and ditch line, passing by his property.

“The guy who rents part of my yard lost $250,000 worth of equipment, fibre-optic equipment,” Benjamin said, adding he suspects a passing train may have ignited the fire.

“Sparks from the trains, brake shoes falling off the trains that are super hot and the grass is super dry,” he said.

He said he’s talked to both the RM of Springfield and CN, but claims little has been done to reduce the fire risk in the area.

“We called the RM last week to get them on CN’s case,” he said.

Khavari has done the same.

“All the time, this comes from the trains,” he said. “They said they would come and cut the grass, but they haven’t. They’re not cutting it. We’ve called them a couple of times.”

The RM’s head offices were closed for the long weekend Monday, while CN did not return a request for comment.

Meantime, nearly two dozen emergency vehicles, including ATVs and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service specialized units, were called in to deal with a grass fire near Sturgeon Road and Silver Avenue later Sunday.

Drones were deployed to assist, and the fire was under control by 10 p.m. No injuries were reported. The cause of that fire remains under investigation.

Karl Koop was in the area dropping his wife off at a friend’s when he saw smoke billowing from a nearby field.

One police officer was already on the scene, but soon after, a stream of fire crews arrived.

“It started in the grass away from the forest area, but quickly made its way into the trees,” he said.

As the flames grew, Koop noted about a dozen vehicles pulled over along Sturgeon to watch the blaze. Emergency crews eventually asked the onlookers to move for safety reasons.

“My son, who is 13, was pretty excited,” he said.

Koop said it really put into perspective how quickly a small grass fire can get out of control.

“They got on top of it quite quickly,” he said. “They did their work. Looked like they knew what they were doing.”

In a release, the city emergency crews respond to about 200 brush and grass fires annually. They warned that wind-driven ground fires involving grass, brush and dead plant matter can spread quickly, putting properties in jeopardy.

The city said some preventative measures include thinning and pruning vegetation, including removing trees and cleaning up brush, leaves, grass and debris.

Other measures include planting fire-resistant greenery, watering plants and vegetation near homes and keeping firewood away from structures.

The city also reminded residents that fires are not allowed, even with permits, if wind speeds and/or gusts exceed 25 km/h.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca