Hanover Fire Crews were called to put out a grass fire off Highway 12 just south of Sarto on Saturday.

“It started out as burning garbage and spread to some grass and got out of control,” informs Fire Chief Paul Wiebe.

According to Wiebe, the fire was confined to the property it began on and took the crew a couple of hours to put out.

“In a lot of areas it’s pretty dry,” says Wiebe who then offers up some bylaw and fire safety reminders.

“You can’t burn anything unless it’s in your backyard fire pit, and just wood, you can’t burn leaves. Any time you light something, the wind has to be less than 32 kilometres per hour.”

Wiebe also asks residents to cultivate around the fire and ensure that the resources required to put it out are in place and adequate.

“Basically, common sense,” says Wiebe describing the precautions laid out, “but those are the things we need to remind the public to think of before they light.”

The air in Steinbach and the surrounding municipalities was thick with smoke Monday evening as the conditions were finally mild enough for farmers to burn their fields. While the plumes of smoke may have looked impressive, if not foreboding at times, Wiebe says the field fires were controlled burns that had been intentionally set, his department was not needed to assist.  

Monday's mild conditions were ideal for controlled field burns.