Grass fire west of Saskatoon damages home, acres of farmland

A rural home suffered extensive damage along with acres of farmland as a grass fire ripped through an area 20 kilometres west of Saskatoon on Saturday.

Crews from Saskatoon, Dalmeny, Warman, Martensville and Langham were able to extinguish the blaze around 3 a.m. on Sunday that started near the intersection of Township Road 380 and Range Road 3073 more than 12 hours earlier.

Saskatoon Fire battalion chief Steve Brissaw said crews from Saskatoon were called to assist in the battle around 2:30 p.m. Saturday and eventually brought two brush trucks, two water tankers and a fire engine to the scene.

“The fire took up roughly a quarter section of land, and progressed into other quarter sections of land,” Brissaw said of the blaze that swept towards Saskatoon throughout the evening. “The terrain out there is mostly bush and tall grass, so there’s a heavy fire load there.”

Brissaw mentioned a steady wind that kept the fire active. Three homes were evacuated as a precaution, and the one home lost to the blaze was believed to be abandoned after the flames jumped a rural road.

“Several fences had to be breached to get access to the fire and create a fire break,” he said.

Smoke from the fire was visible throughout Saskatoon for most of the afternoon.

One house damaged severely as a result of the grass fire. pic.twitter.com/YIbVqnZJIn

— @CormanParkPolice (@CormanParkPoli2) April 20, 2019

Around 5:30 p.m. a crop duster from Nipawin was brought in to help douse the flames, as firefighters worked to protect three other homes in the area.

Here's his second blast on the flames. pic.twitter.com/TU29cLj1Zx

— Keenan Sorokan (@KeenanSorokan) April 21, 2019

Farmers also worked to create their own fire breaks to help protect their fields.

This farmer is setting up a perimeter of his own. pic.twitter.com/tWwmMSJDB3

— Keenan Sorokan (@KeenanSorokan) April 20, 2019