Firefighters take care of McCluskey Drive blaze

Neighbours on McCluskey Drive say fires in the area are rare, despite the dry conditions.

Neebing Volunteer Firefighters Department arrived at 722 McCluskey Dr. shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday. Firefighters took about 30 minutes get a fire under control. Five pumpers and one wild fire truck responded as smoke poured onto the road.

Kevin Harris and his daughter Annette, 10, rode their bikes along the road to see what had happened. Harris lived four houses down, and said he and his daughter were curious so they decided to come and look.

"This is peanuts," Harris said. "They were on it quick."

Harris said it’s rare to have fires in the area and couldn’t recall another incident within the last two years.

Darren McChristie was outside playing soccer with his son when he heard the sirens. He said it was unusual for the area.

"I came out and saw a big puff of black smoke," McChristie said. "I immediately ran inside and told my wife and then came out to see if I could lend a hand."

McChristie said he helped with the hose but other than that left most of the responsibilities to the firefighters. He said it looked like it started in the garage.

Dale Ashbee, deputy fire chief with Neebing Volunteer Firefighters Department, said they hadn’t spoken to the owner yet and didn’t know the cause of the fire.

"It doesn’t take much to start a fire," Ashbee said. "Fire have been starting very easily. The grass is so dry this spring. This is a very unusual spring."

Ashbee said the fire was small but with the current conditions, it could have gotten much bigger.
The Neebing fire department fought about four fires within four days. Ashbee said the strong wind can knock trees into hydro lines and the hot coals and sparks cause fires to start.

"Most people are used to burning stuff in spring before going into flaming May as we call it," he said. "Usually May is our difficult month but now with the early spring April has been a difficult month too."