Owners of yard destroyed by flames say Corman Park fire ban too little too late

UPDATE: The fire ban for the RM of Corman Park was lifted on May 31

Ernie and Linda Anderson’s livelihood was destroyed on May 5 after a controlled burn blazed out of control.

On Monday afternoon, Ernie walked through the wreckage left behind.

Ernie was a mechanic for more than 40 years. Among the charred debris, he found his burned tool box.

The area where the barn once stood was smouldering when he surveyed the damage Monday.

The Saskatoon Fire Department responded to the blaze. Crews worked more than 10 hours to bring the fire, which originated as a controlled burn, under control.

“There should have been a ban on weeks ago,” Linda said. “Who was controlling it then? What does control mean?”

“If that was a controlled burn, I’d hate to see one that wasn’t,” Ernie said.

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A controlled burn needs to be called into the province prior to igniting.

“The provincial burn line does not deny burns but they definitely give advice … whether it’s a risky time like it is now and maybe people should consider burning later — but we will not, as a matter of course, deny people’s ability to burn,” said Ray Unrau, director of operations for Emergency Management and Fire Safety branch of the Saskatchewan government.

“That’s up to the local authority.”

Just two days after the blaze broke out, the Regional Municipality (RM) of Corman Park implemented a fire ban. Beginning 3 p.m. CT Monday, anyone in the RM burning will be charged $250 for a first offence and $500 for a second offence.

The Saskatoon Fire Department sent 31 personnel and nine apparatus to the fire off Auction Road, west of Saskatoon.

The following day, the fire department sent 28 crew and numerous apparatus to extinguish a house fire blazing in the RM of Blucher. It too quickly spread.

“When we travel out of town with some of our fire apparatus, if there’s going to be a period of time where that fire station does not have support, we relocate apparatus from another station and we also call in staff that are normally on days off,” fire Chief Morgan Hackl explained.

RMs pay the fire department a municipal fire and extrication fee of $913-per-hour per apparatus.

“Their main priority was save the house if they could,” Linda said.

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There’s exterior damage to the house but, according to Linda, the interior is nearly unscathed.

“We’re very fortunate for what they did.”