Fire rips through silage

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This article was published 02/06/2020 (2047 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A fire blazed through silage on a farm at the western edge of Brandon on Monday afternoon.

Brandon Fire and Emergency Services joined firefighters from the RMs of Elton and Cornwallis in fighting the blaze, which as of early Monday evening appeared to have been brought under control.

Contacted in the evening, a Brandon Fire and Emergency Services representative said they were “extremely busy” responding to nonstop calls and were unavailable to provide insight on the fire that contributed to their busy Monday until later today.

Although no units from the Rural Municipality of Whitehead responded to the fire, chief Kelly Crosson said it’s been a busy grass fire season so far in the area, with a wet fall meaning lots of farmers are doing controlled burns now.

“Lots of guys are trying to clean up their lands so they can sow it,” he said.

People are being careful with the high winds last week and on Monday, Crosson said. The municipality has also started fining people who are burning irresponsibly, which he said has also likely helped.

“Most people are fairly cautious now when they’re burning within our municipality, so we keep our fingers crossed,” he said.

“When you get 60-kilometre gusts it can cause some problems even if you’ve got a controlled burn with the proper tillage and everything, but we’re fortunate.”

» The Brandon Sun