3 fire departments, volunteers keep weekend fire from spreading to homes near Regina Beach
A number of volunteer fire departments along with other volunteers raced to put out a fire Sunday afternoon that threatened homes just south of Regina Beach.
Regina Beach, Lumsden and Bethune fire departments responded to the fire, as did the nearby Arm River Colony.
"A numerous amount of volunteer manpower, equipment and machinery that all came to assist to make sure the fire was kept at bay," said Mike Thorley, chief administrative officer at Regina Beach.
Thorley said it's still unclear how the fire started.
As far as he knew, no one was hurt, no buildings were lost and there were no losses of wildlife or livestock.
At the time drivers were told to avoid the area southwest of Highway 54, due to heavy smoke that limited visibility.
Jeff Carey, fire Chief with the Lumsden Fire Department, said they received a call for help just before 2 p.m. Sunday.
"We responded with our rapid response unit, which did some wildland fire suppression," Carey said, adding 14 firefighters attended and also an engine that was assigned to protect structures on a property near the fire.
A spokesperson for the Arm River Colony said they sent two fire trucks, a tanker and a tractor with a disc harrow attached to help put out the fire.
Thorley said the focus was keeping the fire away from people's homes.
"That's where a whole whack of volunteers … worked together to make sure that the fire didn't move any further with the high winds that were blowing," Thorley said.
"They did an exceptional job with the guidance of our local fire department to make sure that that didn't spread any further."
Thorley said the fire department is still monitoring the area for any hot spots.
"We are getting a few droplets of rain out here at the beach right now, so that will definitely assist. But there could be some hotspots that they'll be dealing with and the indication was they will stay on top of this until they make sure that it's over and done with."
Thorley said every drop of moisture helps.
"It's dry as dry can be out here right now so we want everyone to be cautious on anything to do with fire."
