Dry spring conditions contributed to a very busy Saturday for the Morden Fire Department.

Grass fires north, west and south of the city of Morden had crews occupied for a number of hours said Fire Hall Administrator Dennis Macklem. "We had five calls that started at 11:30 on Saturday. The crews never got back to the hall until supper time and we were never back at the hall between calls." Macklem added that they were able to use some of their support equipment to assist in fighting the grass fires. "We used our quad. It worked well. We were able to divide our crews and be able to keep responding from scene to scene. It was just a hard busy day for the guys."

According to the Natural Resources Canada, the Pembina Valley region is experiencing some of the most extreme fire danger conditions in the country. The fire danger level is currently at level 4. That has led to a fire ban in the communities of Morden, Winkler and the R.M. of Stanley.

"That means no burning of garbage bins or anything like that," says R.M. of Stanley Reeve Morris Olafson. "Don't light a ditch and hope it's going to go out. It's just too dangerous."

Macklem echoed the Reeve's sentiment, "Backyard fires; we're not even allowing them in town with the way it's been windy. No burning anywhere." He added that these bans will remain in effect until the region receives a significant rainfall.

Fire danger levels in the region are some of the highest in the country

Winkler Fire Chief Richard Paetzold noted that the Winkler Fire Department's catchment is also under a Fire Danger Level 4 burn ban, although, with less grassland in their catchment, it was a quieter weekend for the Winkler crews. "We had one structure fire on Sunday morning. Basically, the fire started out on the deck and spread to the house."

Thanks to the keen eyes of a neighbour, fire crews were able to quickly attend. The neighbour was able to knock down the fire substantially by the time crews arrived. Paetzold noted that the crew stayed on scene for approximately a half hour to ensure that the fire hadn't spread into the house.

Greg Zimmerman, chief for Altona/Rhineland Fire Department says it was a fairly quiet weekend for them, with the exception of a fire on an abandoned yard. On Saturday evening at around 8 pm, the Altona/Rhineland Emergency Services attended a fire on Rd. 8W and encountered a large area of grass, trees and 2 small storage buildings on fire. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time.

For a look at the updated fire danger level in our area, click here.