CENTRE WELLINGTON – A May 9 grass fire burned a 30,000-square-foot patch of land on a rural property along the 8th Line and Wellington Road 17.
Centre Wellington Deputy Fire Chief Jonathan Karn said the fire was caused by sparks from a small burning brush pile on the property.
“The homeowner had a small brush pile burning and the wind was quite high this morning and it just blew some of the fire into the field,” said Karn, who noted the call came in at 8:20am.
“There was some leftover hay stubble type stuff so it was just starting to burn through the field.”
He added it was a small fire but it moved quickly due to strong winds, burning a 60-by-500 foot area of the field.
In total, 22 Centre Wellington firefighters from Fergus and Elora battled the blaze for about an hour.
Their efforts were aided by the homeowner, who was already working to contain the fire when the crews arrived.
“Just as we arrived the homeowner was using a tractor with a cultivator on the back of the tractor to plow under the part that was burning,” said Karn.
“That actually helped us out a lot; he was able to go around where the fire was burning and then we put out the brush pile fire.
“Just because of the wind conditions today we didn’t want to keep that going.”
Advice
Given the time of year, Karn said many property owners are likely to burn brush piles, but they should be cognizant of the weather.
“Really it’s just reminding everyone to be aware that if there is high wind conditions … that is not an ideal time to light your brush pile on fire,” Karn said.
“Just be aware of the weather.”
There were no injuries or damage as a result of the fire.
“There was no crop damage or anything like that because it’s really early in the season,” Karn added.
