Grass fire near Richer leaves crews ‘exhausted’: deputy chief

High winds and dry conditions created the perfect storm for a grass fire to burn out of control near Richer last week, destroying a car and multiple trailers.

Firefighters from the Richer and Ste Anne Fire Departments battled flames near Road 46 North from 6:48 p.m. on May 13 until 4 a.m. the next day. Crews protected roughly 600 acres of land, with flames getting as closes as 4.5 metres to some homes.

“It was a lot. I’m pretty tired. My team is pretty exhausted,” said David Reith, deputy fire chief for the Richer Fire Department.

Videos posted on Richer Fire Department’s Facebook page showed a hazy, orange horizon as crews used shovels to tackle the blazes.

When crews arrived on the scene, they found a car engulfed in flames, spreading into a dry pasture-like area, Reith said. The department had to act quickly as the fire was rapidly moving towards people’s homes, he said.

“It was very dry, the wind was pushing it, and just in order to contain it, we needed some assistance,” Reith said.

Between the two departments, 30 firefighters had buggies, ATVs, three pumper trucks and one water tanker. Area residents helped the crews navigate the dense brush and showed routes to quickly get to the flames, Reith said.

The fire also destroyed several trailers, but Reith wasn’t sure any were in in use. He said there were no injuries.

The windy conditions made it difficult to spot the smoldering hot spots long after the initial fire was put out, Reith said, with firefighters having to go by smell and sound rather than sight to locate and douse any found.

Manitoba’s 2025 wildfire season killed two residents in the Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet and triggered evacuations across the province. Throughout the season, 428 wildfires burned 2.14 million hectares of forest.

“It cost us a lot throughout the entire province,” Reith said. “There were lives that were lost, there’s livestock that’s lost, there’s family pets that are lost, there’s property that’s lost. It’s unbelievable.”

When battling last week’s blazes, his crews leaned on their experience from helping other municipalities fight wildfires in 2025 and the boosted wildfire training they received during this year.

Reith said residents need to be remember and learn from last year’s “extraordinary” wildfire season” when taking precautions.

As of May 20, there are seven rural municipality burn bans in the Southeast: Ritchot, Tache, Ste Anne, Reynolds, La Broquerie, Piney and Stuartburn.

Ste Anne’s ban is classified at level three, which only allows campfires in approved, covered fire pits or barbecues. Any fireworks or other outdoor fires are banned.

“Anyone that lights up anything in this dry weather condition, just give your head a shake,” he said. “There is just absolutely no common sense for someone that lights up anything in this kind of weather.”

Ste Anne Reeve Richard Pelletier saw the plumes of black smoke while riding his motorcycle on the night of the fire.

He said its important for residents to follow the burn ban while conditions are dry because it’s “everyone’s responsibility” to prevent fires.

“If everybody is really diligent, we could prevent all that (fire) by knowing what they’re doing and making sure that anything they do is not anything that would be causing a fire,” Pelletier said.

Ste Anne assessed parcels of land within its borders that could add fire threats, following last year’s wildfire season.

The rural municipality has flagged dry, unmaintained Crown grassland to the province that poses a fire risk, he said. Local leaders are in communication with the province about the land because of the danger it presents for residents, he added.