THUNDER BAY - Crews with Thunder Bay Fire Rescue have been kept busy recently with numerous grass fires sparking up around the city. The cause of the fires is most likely due to a dry and windy spring, but human factors can make already hazardous conditions even worse.
Over the last several weeks, Thunder Bay Fire Rescue has responded to numerous grass and bush fires, including a large fire behind the Parkdale area along Highway 61 and one under the Main Street Bridge on Saturday.
According to Thunder Bay Fire Rescue platoon chief, Shawn Merrifield, it is normal for this time of year to have grass fires, but a lack of rain this spring is creating particularly hazardous conditions.
“There are a number of reasons why they could ignite,” he said. “Sometimes it’s people not being attentive with things that could cause a fire, like smoking materials or working around grass with flames. Often times it is just spontaneous combustion. There was nothing around there and it was just so dry and for some reason heated up enough and caught fire.”
And while dry and windy conditions are contributing to more fires this year compared to last spring that saw much more rain, Merrifield said members of the public should be extra careful with anything that could cause a fire, especially smoking materials or lawn burning.
“This certainly would not be a good time to start burning grass,” he said. “I don’t think it happens as much anymore as it did in the past, but sometimes people like to burn the grass and they think it gives them a better lawn over the summer. I’m not sure if that is true or not, but now would not be a good time to do that.”
Grass fires require large fire crews and a lot of resources to extinguish, Merrifield said, and if the fire becomes too big, as was the case with the fire behind the Parkdale area or the fire on Candy Mountain Road earlier this month, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will be called in to assist.
“The problem for us is the Thunder Bay Fire department is equipped for a certain size of grass fire,” Merrifield said. “But if it gets out of hand and it’s a windy day and it’s dry, the wind it will push it along and into a bush area and could start threatening people’s property, homes, garages.”
The cause of the fires on Saturday remains unknown at this time. Merrifield said unless someone is present to see the cause of the fire or report it, there is often no way to definitively determine how it started.
If it is determined a grass fire was started intentionally or was the result of carelessness, the Thunder Bay Fire Rescue prevention division can lay charges. No burning is allowed during a fire ban, even if an individual has the proper permits.
Merrifield said if you are unsure about any current fire bans you can contact any fire hall for more information.
When it comes to grass fires or the potential for one, the key to preventing the situation from getting out of control is to be prepared with hoses, shovels, and rakes. If a fire does get out of control, contact Thunder Bay Fire Rescue as soon as possible.
“If it looks as though it is starting to get out of hand you should always call early,” Merrifield said. “Calling early is the best way to go because we will respond and if you should happen to gain control of it again, then great. But if it does start to get out of hand and you waited too long, then it becomes much more difficult.”
