City's weekend wildfires investigation continues, vigilance urged as dry weather continues

Winnipeg's fire paramedic department says it's still not clear what started a series of fires that lit up along a city rail line on the weekend, and it's stepping up prevention as dry, windy conditions continue.

"As we've said in the past, these incidents are under investigation and at this point they're undetermined," said Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service deputy chief Tom Wallace on Wednesday.

"With the conditions being this dry, if somebody threw a cigarette out their window, that's just as likely a cause," he added.

Wallace met with representatives from CN Railway Wednesday afternoon to talk about the fires.

"Certainly the incident on Sunday, as I've said in the past, there appeared to be a pattern of fires in succession that followed a train that had run through the area," he said.

"So we had to look at that possibility as part of our investigations, and we were pleased that CN accommodated this meeting today to look at those possibilities."

Watch as a fire starts on Wilkes Avenue while a train passes by:

Wallace said the meeting was productive. Fire-Paramedic Chief John Lane wasn't present because he's in the U.S. for a conference, but he's been communicating with the department back-and-forth by phone and email all week, he said.

"We [CN and the city] looked at some preventative strategies going forward with respect to taking a tour of the rail lines, looking at the high-risk areas and what we can do jointly to prevent these incidents from happening in the future," Wallace said.

CN's own investigation of the Sunday fires is ongoing, said Kate Fenske, a spokesperson for the railway.

"We are still looking and still reviewing," she said. "But we've looked at the equipment on the trains, the locomotives, that were travelling through Winnipeg that day and we haven't found anything that points to a specific cause."

Wallace said dry, windy conditions continue to place southern Manitoba at a higher risk for fires.

The fires on Sunday were among roughly 50 that have sprung up across southern Manitoba this season.

"Basically, everything is combustible in those areas right now and the public needs to be aware of that," he said.

'Hope is not a strategy'

The department is already taking steps to prevent more fires from springing up, and ensure crews are ready to battle any that do. Extra focus is being placed on the outskirts of town, where wildland meets urban areas.

"Hope is not a strategy," Wallace said.

"One of the significant things that we've done is look at our pre-plans for the areas we've identified as higher-risk. So the plans that we have in place, we're re-evaluating them and making sure that the water hookups are reliable, all our equipment is functioning properly."

City staff also went door-to-door in the high-risk areas over the weekend to educate the public, and more staff will do that again this weekend, he said.

If you live close to wildland areas, Wallace recommends creating or maintaining a 10-metre "buffer zone" around your home.

"That's ensuring that you're not stacking wood around your house, you're keeping your shrubs trimmed, keeping combustibles as much as possible 10 metres away from your home," he said.

People who smoke are being asked to properly dispose of smoking materials and all open-air burning is considered irresponsible, he added.

"Work with us," he said. "If you see something that's concerning, phone 911 as always."