It was a busy Tuesday for the Humboldt Fire Department who were called to two different fires throughout the day.

Around 9:30am, the fire department received a call about a burning house on Swain Crescent in the city.

Humboldt Fire Chief Mike Kwasnica believes the fire began due to an exterior plug-in.

"The fire did start on the outside of the house. It ran up the side of the house into the attic. Once it got into the attic it ventilated through the roof fairly quickly," he stated. "Relatively no fire damage on the inside of the house but a lot of water damage and insulation from the top that came down. We did manage to save a lot of the personal items."

Approximately four hours later, fire crews responded to an incident on Highway 5 east of the city, where a semi truck was on fire.

"When we got there, we were told it was a semi carrying a load of nitrogen cylinders, so it was a little concerning," Kwasnica explained. "It turned out for the better, we got the cab fire under control and nothing else came out of it."

Both incidents provide a reminder that while the area hasn't seen plenty of active fires, we aren't clear of any incidents occurring.

"We do lots of training. Sometimes that is all people see, but it's days like today where it really shows that the training we do, really does help," he noted. "We do have multiple calls, it has happened in the past. It's just the way to manage them and make sure we have enough resources."

"I was very happy with my staff and congratulated them all on a job well done at the end."

This time of year is also active across the prairies, as it is grass season, where winter grass is dry and dead, remaining dry and tinder a lot longer, thus being susceptible to fires starting.

"We just want everybody to be super diligent at this time of year to don't do any unnecessary fires that you don't need to have," Kwasnica said. "We just want everybody to use caution and use their heads."

He mentioned that there are fire bans in place in parts of the province, and while they haven't done so in Humboldt, it is possible if conditions remain idle.


Hear more from Kwasnica below.