Fire near Dalmeny extinguished after weekend of high winds

Firefighters in Dalmeny have secured and extinguished a grass fire burning a few kilometres east of the town.

Dalmeny Fire and Rescue confirm a fire that started Thursday has been safely extinguished as personnel remain in the area to take care of any hot spots or possible flare-up locations.

Lieutenant Joanne Elder said the single unit patrolling the area is an added precaution.

“The wind causes a lot of grief and stirs things up, so we’re just making sure that everything is ok out there,” Elder said.

Nearby residents were evacuated Thursday evening but were able to safely return home by Friday morning.

Elder said the fire, which needed additional help from Martensville, Warman, Langham, Osler and Saskatoon to put out, was difficult to track and access over the long weekend.

“Due to the terrain that we had with long grass, brush, quite rocky (and) high winds, it was definitely a lot harder to contain,” she said.

“The wind was very challenging.”

Elder said the fire was started from a single spark that ignited grass along the Canadian National Railway (CN) line when a contractor working on the rail used a torch. The worker sustained burn injuries after immediately trying to stop the blaze once the spark ignited.

Elder said CN would “more than likely” be reimbursing the fire department for any costs attributed to the five-day battle.

“It’s been a very collaborative effort,” Elder said of the effort to control the fire from all parties involved.

The fire burned an area roughly two miles (3.2 kilometres) wide and one mile (1.6 kilometres) long.

At one point the fire got as close as one mile to Dalmeny.

Aside from a couple of sheds and a storage container, no other structures were damaged.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Brent Bosker.