A helicopter dropped water from above and firefighters charged into the bush below to douse a volatile wildfire near the Flin Flon ski chalet last week.
Fire Chief Jim Petrie estimates the blaze consumed trees and bush spanning an area equal to approximately five football fields before crews got it under control.
“If it would have gotten away, it was headed straight towards the ski chalet and could have kept going right through to Channing,” he said of the Thursday, August 13 wildfire.
Petrie was first notified of the fire at 1:17 pm. Once the fire spread into the heavy timber, the trees went up like candles, he said.
Provincial firefighters from Saskatchewan arrived to assist, providing a four-man crew along with a bucket-equipped helicopter.
Petrie said the skilled chopper pilot retrieved water from nearby Spirit Lake, dumping 500 gallons of water onto the flames once every 45 to 60 seconds.
The Saskatchewan crew cut off the fire on one side and the Flin Flon firefighters did the same on the other side, choking the flames off within five or six hours, a time Petrie considers excellent for a blaze of this size.
Flin Flon firefighters had approached the wildfire off of Phelps Avenue, overlooking Centoba Park, forcing them to carry hose and pumps on a lengthy jaunt over hills and rocks.
“That was an extremely dangerous fire and it was really hard to get the area,” he said.
Petrie believes the fire was deliberately set, having ruled out natural causes or an accidental start from a quad.
That same afternoon, firefighters were also summoned to four smaller bush fires between Flin Flon and the Perimeter Highway. He believes those fires were also intentionally set.
Petrie said fire is a powerful force and small fires can grow into blazes that spread for miles “quite easily and very quickly,” so a prompt response is key.
He has turned the cause of all five fires over to the RCMP. As of Monday, he was unaware of any leads the police had.
Flin Flon RCMP invite anyone with information on unsolved crimes to call them at 204-687-1423 or the anonymous Crime Stoppers line at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Callers to Crime Stoppers remain anonymous and may become eligible for a cash reward.
