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A community in Saskatchewan is offering a $3000 reward for information leading to the discovery and apprehension of what they believe is a hay bale arsonist.
Since July, the town of Macklin has been responding to several fires believed to be started by a local arsonist.
Macklin Fire Chief Justin Bast shared his volunteer fire crew has consistently been responding to calls regarding bales on fire.
“Starting on July 29th, we had a call out for some bales on fire and since then it’s been 14 calls that we’ve had for round bales on fire in the ditches,” said Bast.
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Bast and Macklin and District Fire and Rescue believe these fires are man-made.
“We found some (bales) that tried to be lit and didn’t light. So, that’s kinda how we came up with the fact that somebody was lighting them. It’s too many in too many different places for them to be naturally occurring,” said Bast.
The Macklin and District Fire and Rescue and local RCMP are still on the lookout for suspects.
“We’ve got nothing concrete as of yet.” Bast shared.
The Macklin and District Fire and Rescue posted to their Facebook offering a reward to anyone who can help.
“The Macklin & District Fire Protection Board has decided to offer a $3000 reward for information leading to the discovery and apprehension of the individual/individuals involved.”
Bast explained they hope the reward will help them find the perpetrator faster.
“The first week we had seven calls in three days. It was pretty apparent that we needed to get this dealt with as quickly as we could.”
As Saskatchewan transitions into fall and harvest season, Bast warned farmers to move their bales before their land gets too dry.
“Once crops start ripening and the ditches dry out, it could be disastrous if it continues.”
“We will see if it continues and if they move to bale stacks or people’s yards, but hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
All of the firefighters in Macklin are volunteer workers. The heavy number of calls has been impacting their day-to-day lives.
“The fellows are leaving work and the employer loses out on having somebody there two or three times a day… some guys don’t get paid when they are not at work so it’s definitely something that impacts the community,” said Bast.
When asked what he wanted the Macklin community to know, Bast made a call for folks to keep an eye out during the day for suspicious activity.
“People are seeing this happen, they are just not recognizing that is what’s going on. It’s happening during the day and it’s all on good grids roads or highways. It’s not like they’re hiding back in the fields.”
“The chances of somebody seeing this individual lighting them is fairly likely.”
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