Black smoke wafted high into the air due to a fire east of North Battleford Sunday. (Tyler Marr/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Tyler Marr

SERIOUS SITUATION

Sparks from controlled burn cause of weekend fire east of city

May 21, 2019 | 5:00 PM

A serious situation was averted east of North Battleford this weekend after heat from a fire caused propane tanks to vent.

Sunday, at around 3 p.m., volunteer fire crews from the Rural Municipality of North Battleford were called to a fire at a property between Highway 16 and 40. They remained on scene until 6 p.m.

Fire Chief Neil Good said wind gusts caused sparks from a controlled burn to start an old tractor, a number of old vehicles, tires, and a storage Sea Can filled with large items, on fire. The heat also caused several propane tanks to vent.

Good said crews kept their distance and managed to cool off the bottles before battling the rest of the blaze.

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A large Sea Can used for storage caught fire Sunday east of North Battleford. (Tyler Marr/battlefordsNOW Staff)

There were no injuries and Good said the loss was minimal due to the age of the equipment.

“The volunteer department performed amazingly well,” he said. “I guided them through how to be safe when trying to cool down propane bottles. If one was to explode, it would be a very serious incident.”

While the fire ban has been lifted in the rural municipality, Good asked residents to call the R.M. office for a burn permit. He said if conditions continue to remain dry, he may be forced to reinstate the ban.

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tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr