Grass fire extinguished, around 20 evacuated near CFB Shilo

RCMP say a large grass fire has been extinguished, a shed was reportedly destroyed and approximately 20 homes were evacuated near CFB Shilo.

Officers say it was in the area of Highway 351 and 90 Road West, approximately 13 kilometres west of Carberry. All evacuees are able to return home according to police.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Paul Manaigre tells Global News they got the call around 2:45 p.m. Thursday after the community of Shilo started seeing billows of smoke.

“It’s unseasonably dry out there lately, with the high winds it doesn’t take much of a spark to get into some dry material and the fires can grow quickly and move over terrain at a high speed,” Manaigre said Friday.

It’s unknown when exactly the fire started, but Manaigre said the blaze was potentially active for nearly six hours.

Trevor Drinkwater, Deputy Fire Chief of Glenboro Fire Department, offered four crew members and a truck to help battle the fire.

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“It was a pretty big area and a lot of bush, and with the homes in there too, it had the potential to really turn disastrous in a hurry,” Drinkwater said.

Roughly six to seven detachments assisted, according to Drinkwater, who said he wasn’t aware of any houses being destroyed.

“There was a garden shed that destroyed right next to a house and the house did sustain slight heat stress on the side,” Drinkwater said.

Global News has reached out to Carberry Fire Hall. Drinkwater said that detachment was headed back to the scene Friday to check for additional hot spots.

Mounties were asking anyone who lived in the area to prepare to evacuate and to bring pets with them.

The Town of Carberry’s Facebook page says evacuees were able to head to the Carberry Plains Community Centre.