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The Saskatoon Fire Department has been busy as of late, mainly with fires in city dumpsters.
Saturday night was no exception, with three small fires being lit in dumpsters, just a few blocks from one another.
Crews were first called to 2008 20th Street West for a dumpster fire, and two more were reported in the city later in the evening.
Those occurred at 1145 Ave. I South and 1010 Ave. J South.
Fire Battalion Chief, Len Protz said they have an investigator looking into all calls due to the volume as of late.
“Typically, we don’t always send out an investigator to a single dumpster fire, however, because we have had more dumpster fires recently, we are investigating them a little bit more closely,” he told 650 CKOM Sunday.
When asked if the fires have been set by one particular person or a group of people, the answer was clear.
“Not that we know of at this time,” Protz said.
Eight suspicious fires were responded to Friday in the city, with the first five being set in the morning in the King George neighbourhood. All five involved garbage or recycling bins.
Three more were responded to Friday afternoon, with a garbage pile, a commercial recycling bin and a household recycling bin on fire. These happened on 19th Street West, 20th Street West and Ave. M South.
Even with the heightened look on dumpster fires in the city, Protz said people shouldn’t be on the lookout for more.
“I don’t think that anybody should be more on-alert than they should be at any particular time, you should always be watching out for your property,” he said.
“If you do recognize something that’s out of the ordinary, (contact) Saskatoon Police.”
Crews respond to duplex fire
On top of the dumpster fires, Saskatoon Fire also responded to a house fire Saturday night.
The structure fire call came around 8 p.m., reporting a duplex on fire. As units arrived, they saw heavy fire and smoke coming from the back of the home, according to a release.
They were able to get everything under control in around an hour, and there were no injuries.
Protz said there was another factor that plagued their department.
“There was a lot of additional (items) in the home. It was actually a hoarders home. So, it made it a little bit difficult for our fire crews to access the fire itself and to get it under control.”
He said regardless of the condition of the home, they were able to get everything in control in a timely fashion.
