Details on yesterday's grass fire turned property fire

A fire rampaged through a property south of Wymark along Highway Four yesterday.

The blaze consumed a total of 60 acres, demolishing not just land but also some structures and classic trucks that the property owner had been working on. 

Louis Cherpin, Fire Chief for the RM of Swift Current Fire Department, responded to the fire with six other firefighters from the RM. 

Firefighters discussing their next course of action by a firetruck. 

"[The fire] went through the owner's yard," said Cherpin. "He had some collectibles that burnt down, a few buildings that burnt down, and [the flames] went through some tree rows."

The flames began in the ditch, where a gusting wind quickly pushed them to consume the neighbouring field before spreading into the farm property. 

On the the RM firetrucks that went around putting out gouts of fire. 

Braydon Erickson, a truck driver for Low-Cost Towing, was passing by when he noticed the flames quickly devouring the space. 

"My first reaction was, I can't stop that," said Erickson. "It just took off as I was coming by. Seeing the flames, another vehicle pulled over as I did and knew I had to call."

After Erickson placed the call, firefighters quickly arrived on the scene and were joined by folks bringing water and equipment to fight the fire. 

One of the individuals was Fred Warnecke, who, with his son, brought a tractor with a high-speed disker to tear up the soil and cut off the flames. 

The big blue tractor saving the day.

"They were able to get caught up to the fire and able to stop it for us," praised Cherpin. "From there, we put a lot of water on it and did our stuff."

The Warnecke's efforts proved invaluable. Alongside the RM grader, they cut off the fire before it spread to more land. 

The neighbouring units to the west, south, and north of the blaze did not become entangled in the fire. One of those properties was the Monette Farms NexGen Seed facility. The grain bins there are full of seeds that could have turned into an explosive dust fire if they had caught fire. 

"It didn't jump that grid road that separates NexGen from that little community," confirmed Cherpin. 

The smoldering wreackge of what used to be a classic truck. 

No injuries have been reported, and no loss of life was reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

"Thankfully, the property can be replaced," noted Cherpin. "Grass will grow back, and there were no injuries, thank goodness. Everybody worked hard and worked fast, but they worked safely."

Alongside the RM of Swift Current Fire Department, the City of Swift Current Fire Department had three firefighters respond to the incident. Helping with the crowd and consoling the family were members of the Swift Current Rural RCMP.