By Brent Bosker

Fire burns close to riding and roping club

May 2, 2011 | 11:35 AM

A pile of hay and manure continues to smolder after a dangerous looking brush fire broke out Sunday night in Nesbit Forest behind the Red River Roping and Riding Club, north of Prince Albert.

“A lot of flames, you could see them from the highway,” said Carmen Youngwirth, club manager.

The fire was already large when Youngwirth and other staff arrived. She said their immediate concern was the safety of the horses that live onsite.

“We were a little concerned because (the fire) came right up to the end of our pasture line that the horses are kept in,” she said.

The horses were rounded up and brought into the barn in case there was the need to evacuate, Youngwirth said.

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“These horses are all owned by individuals and boarded here. Their safety was our biggest concern.”

Buckland Fire and Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management (SERM) personnel were called out around 11 p.m. They had the fire under control quickly and were monitoring the area into the morning.

“One of the lucky parts of it was it happened when the wind was very calm and the humidity quite high,” said Buckland Fire Chief Jim Miller.

Officials from Buckland and SERM were examining the scene today, but had yet to determine a cause.

“We don’t know, sometimes there is a little bit of spontaneous combustion, but it has to be checked.”
Carmen Youngwirth has her own suspicions about how the fire may have started.

“It’s hard to say, but with all the people that quad back here and the kids that kind of hang out in this area, I would be suspecting cigarettes or a camp fire,” Youngwirth said.

The fire scorched trees and grass around the club’s pasture land, but no property was damaged.

Grass and brush fires have been a common occurrence in the past few weeks in Prince Albert, however Miller said their department hasn’t been as busy.

bbosker@panow.com