Drier spring creating 'dangerous situation,' Manitoba fire chief says amid recent grass fires

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A drier-than-normal outpouring forecast is sparking immoderate concerns following a drawstring of writer fires successful Manitoba this past weekend.

Art Benjamin, proprietor of Industrial Trailer Sales successful Winnipeg, said a mates of his trailers were damaged aft a writer occurrence dispersed onto his spot on a conception of a CN Rail enactment connected Sunday afternoon.

"I deliberation we're fortunate the upwind conditions were not astatine afloat tilt, similar astatine 60 kilometres an hour," helium said, recalling a occurrence successful 2018 that burned down 55 of his trailers, worthy $1.5 million. "It's inactive haunting me."

The blaze on Fermor Avenue was 1 of 3 abstracted writer fires that were reported successful Winnipeg and surrounding communities Sunday, amid drier than mean conditions truthful acold this spring.

At astir 8:24 p.m. Sunday, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to reports of a writer occurrence adjacent Sturgeon Road and Silver Avenue, according to a metropolis quality release.

Also that evening, the Narol Fire Department successful the agrarian municipality of St. Clements responded to a blaze connected the banks of the Red River Floodway, northbound of Birds Hill Provincial Park.

Narol occurrence Chief Robert Herda said that writer occurrence covered an area roughly a mates 100 yards wide and astir a mile long.

"It'll marque it truthful overmuch easier for america if we tin get a small rainfall here," Herda said Tuesday. "Because that writer is incredibly adust close now…. It conscionable creates a unsafe situation."

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's drought show showed immoderate parts of Manitoba were abnormally adust arsenic of March 31.

A provincial occurrence bulletin from earlier this month warned that matted writer and adust and dormant vegetation "can easy beryllium ignited and pb to fast-moving wildfires successful the spring, particularly connected windy days." The bulletin said astir fires successful the season are caused by quality activity.

Environment and Climate Change Canada said a seasonal forecast issued past month suggested drier-than-normal conditions successful immoderate parts of state betwixt April and June, including astir of confederate and each of cardinal Manitoba.

"It's not a precise beardown signal, but I deliberation it volition beryllium important considering … however overmuch precipitation we've gotten up to now, which isn't precise much," said Natalie Hasell, a informing preparedness meteorologist with the federal agency.

The forecast "doesn't mean determination isn't precipitation successful the forecast — determination is," Hasell said Tuesday.

"It's raining close present successful a bully chunk of confederate Manitoba, which is nice. But the full magnitude that we're expecting is little than normal."

'We tin suffer everything'

A occurrence severity anomaly forecast from Natural Resources Canada shows an "average" standing for astir of Manitoba adjacent month. But the bureau forecasts much of the state volition beryllium astatine an above-average oregon well-above-average severity level by August.

"There are caveats here…. But mostly speaking, we are talking astir warmer than mean conditions and mostly drier than mean conditions for the adjacent respective months," Hasell said, adding that the concern could worsen wildfires this year.

Benjamin, with Industrial Trailer Sales, said he sees fires each year. He said helium would similar to spot the areas astir the obstruction way fireproofed with gravel.

"We can't run similar this anymore," helium said. "It's a interest to each the employees and particularly my wife, you know. She hears a occurrence motortruck oregon thing and we get a telephone — it's craziness, you know. We tin suffer everything."

CN Rail declined to comment.

Brian Seaton, occurrence main successful the agrarian municipality of Springfield, said successful an email Tuesday the origin of the Fermor Avenue occurrence is inactive nether investigation.

Seaton added that residents should beryllium cautious erstwhile doing gait cleanups, bonfires oregon immoderate different benignant of burning, fixed the warmer temperatures and adust conditions.