A wildfire started by hay equipment has burned up a large swath of land just west of Plamondon on Township Road 680.
A wildfire started by hay equipment has burned up a large swath of land just west of Plamondon on Township Road 680.
The fire was attended by Lac La Biche County firefighters by 3:30 this afternoon. Bringing water-tanker trucks, pumper trucks and a variety of firefighting vehicles, they attacked the fire as it spread to a nearby wooded area. Some firefighters ran their trucks' water stores dry, and went to refill at a fire hydrant in central Plamondon before returning to the scene.
The fire was the fourth in the area over the past week and a half, and the second on that particular land, firefighters said. The fire has not caused injury to people or damage to structures.
Landowner Ken Simonellis, who was at the scene, said the fire was started by the land's tenant farmer hitting a bump with a piece of farm machinery, sparking a fire in a bale of hay. Given the dry conditions, the blaze soon spread to engulf a wide area.
"I thought, 'Not again!'" said Simonellis. "There were two last week, one this week."
He remarked that this wildfire showed how making hay while the sun shines isn't always a foolproof strategy.
"Hay only catches fire when it's worth $100 a bale," he joked. "When it's worth $30 a bale, it never catches fire."
Simonellis the fire's easy start and spread widespread hot, dry climate conditions, remarking that the fire could perhaps be an indicator of climate change.
"If it's a harbinger of weather patterns to come, why take a chance?" he said.
The first firefighters on the scene initially planned to call a water bomber in to contain the blaze, but gains made by ground firefighting led them to call the aircraft off. Instead, they sent for excavators to establish a fire line to keep the flames from spreading.
This is an ongoing story, and will be updated as more information becomes available.
