Charge laid in Kerry wildfire

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This article was published 02/06/2020 (2045 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An individual has been charged under Manitoba’s Wildfires Act after flames threatened the St Labre area last week.

A May 19 wildfire that began in the hamlet of Kerry, 10 kilometres northwest of St Labre, damaged a 242-hectare (598-acre) patchwork of Crown land and private property.

One shed was destroyed and no injuries were reported.

RM of Piney Fire Chief Ina Ruttle said crews battled the wildfire for 10 hours until around midnight.

“Woodridge (firefighters) went back out on patrol to check for hot spots and flare-ups during the night and the next morning,” Ruttle said. “There was a very strong wind.”

Two more local fire departments assisted in the suppression effort, a provincial spokesperson said. They were joined by a 16-member crew from the Manitoba Wildfire Service.

The province also sent heavy equipment including air tankers, helicopters, and bulldozers.

A fire status report on the province’s website listed the fire as ‘Out of Control’ on May 19 and 20, ‘Being Held’ on May 21, and ‘Under Control’ on May 22. Over the weekend, the fire was deemed ‘Extinguished.’

Investigators quickly determined the fire was caused by human activity.

An individual was charged under the Wildfires Act with starting a fire that burns out of control, the provincial spokesperson said.

The charge is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or up to a year in prison, or both.

The lone structure destroyed by the fire belonged to Savannah Alguire, a Winnipeg resident who owns a three-acre cottage property in Kerry.

Alguire raced there from Winnipeg last Tuesday after receiving a “very alarming” phone call about a fire approaching her property, which has been in her family since 1960.

“I got out here as fast as I could,” she said.

By the time she arrived, a storage shed, one of three structures on the property, had been reduced to “a smoky pile of rubble.” The uninsured building contained a few old truck parts.

Firefighters managed to protect a nearby workshop that sustained minor damage to its exterior. Blackened grass surrounded the building on two sides.

An unoccupied house on another corner of the property, which Alguire is renovating into a cabin, wasn’t damaged.

She estimated one-third of her property was charred by the fire, which moved so fast it left trees standing. Alguire was conferring with her insurance company about the value of the damage.

Alguire said investigators informed her the fire likely spread from a shallow pit near her property line where a neighbour was burning refuse or other material.

The Carillon visited and phoned the property but received no response.

The Carillon is withholding the neighbour’s identity because the provincial spokesperson would not confirm the identity of the individual charged, citing a matter before the courts.

Alguire said no one should have been burning anything on such a dry, windy day.

She recalled signage at the Sandilands ranger station that read ‘Extreme’ and ‘Open Fires Prohibited’ when she drove past on the day of the fire.

“It hasn’t rained much,” she said.

The fire risk in southern Manitoba following the May long weekend was projected to be “high to extreme,” according to a provincial report published May 15.