RM of Piney wildfire consumes 2,000 hectares

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This article was published 13/05/2021 (1421 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An intense firefighting effort in RM of Piney this week is expected to continue for several more days, to combat a wildland fire between Woodridge and Sandilands that as of yesterday had grown to 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) in size.

In a bulletin yesterday, the RM of Piney said no homes had been evacuated and no structures had been lost to the fire, which was reported Saturday evening.

“This fire will not be easily extinguished, given the weather forecast, the volume of material left to burn and the massive size of the burn area,” the bulletin stated.

The municipality remains under a state of local emergency and a blanket burn ban, with an exception for propane barbecues. The provincial government has also prohibited motorized backcountry travel and wilderness camping in an area stretching to the Ontario border.

Main Market Road, which connects the villages of Woodridge and Sandilands, is closed to all but emergency crews, who are using the road to transport firefighting equipment and personnel.

Water bombers and helicopters from the Manitoba Wildfire Service began combating the fire from the air on Sunday, assisted by bulldozers and specialized wildfire attack teams on the ground. Yesterday, resources also arrived from Ontario, the RM said.

Municipal firefighters are monitoring the fire, notifying residents, and helping to protect private property and rail lines.

“A lot of them have done without sleep,” Reeve Wayne Anderson said Tuesday.

Despite all those efforts, the fire remains “uncontained and active,” the RM said, with “numerous small fires” burning south of Main Market Road.

Municipal Fire Chief Bill Stowe was not made available for a phone interview.

Anderson said he had no information on the cause of the fire.

The likelihood of evacuations was “very small” but “could change on a moment’s notice,” Anderson said.

“It’s getting up there with some of the bigger fires (in the RM),” he said. “It’s a problem out here, living in the forest. In between when the snow goes and it greens up, there’s a time when we can have problems.”

Anderson said he was satisfied by the amount of support and resources the municipality has received from the provincial government.

“We’re getting very good cooperation and the fire departments are working closely together,” he added.

Anderson said residents have also provided grassroots support, in the form of food and drinks dropped off at fire halls.

Anderson said the fire is burning primarily on forested Crown land but has encroached on a small handful of undeveloped private properties scattered throughout the provincial forest.

In the days leading up to the fire, open fires were prohibited. A provincial backcountry travel ban imposed earlier this spring was repealed after an April snowstorm, but Anderson said Piney left its burn ban in place.

The warming weather forecast, with little rain and sunny daytime highs of 25 C, is producing favourable conditions for the fire. Anderson relative humidity dropped below the air temperature for the first time on Tuesday.

“That’s when it burns the best.”

For several hours on Sunday afternoon, RCMP blocked off Provincial Road 210 between Woodridge and the St Labre turnoff, as the fire opened a new front north of Woodridge. Water bombers flew back and forth over the highway every few minutes as an RCMP officer and Conservation officer redirected traffic.

The RM repeatedly stated in bulletins this week that spectators in the vicinity of the fire are creating a safety concern. On Sunday, cars were parked at trailheads along Provincial Roads 210 and 404, and picnic tables near the ranger station were in use.

Anderson urged everyone to stay clear of the area until the fire is out.