Web Posted Apr 18 2000 7:48 PM | Latest Radio Newscast

Fire season is here

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - Manitoba's first major grass fire has been burning near Elma. It started Sunday, and it's still going. So far it's consumed 3,000 acres of grass and bush. This spring, there have been 22 other fires like it. Some can be quite dangerous. Last week smoke from a grass fire blinded drivers on Highway 59, near Niverville. Seven cars collided and three people were sent to hospital.

While the grass fires are a concern, Natural Resources officials have bigger worries. A dry spring means a high risk of serious forest fires. This year Natural Resources has its usual arsenal to fight fires: but it will add another weapon to its front line of defence. It's enlisting the help of cropdusters: pilots and planes more commonly used to fight agricultural pests, not flames. As many as six of them are being recruited to drop fire retardant on flames across the province.

Cropdusters have been used successfully in Europe, the United States and British Columbia; but it's a first for Manitoba. It will cost about $75,000 to train cropdusting pilots to drop their payload on flames, rather than crops. This week they're learning the theory behind fighting fire from the air. Later in the week they will get their chance to practise on real flames, in a staged exercise.