Grass fires are a sign of spring.
Moncton Fire responded to one on the marsh on Wednesday. Deputy Chief Keith Guptill says this isn’t uncommon, even with the precipitation we’ve had to this point.
Luckily, firefighters were able to tackle it quickly because someone called it in.
“What happens is, as the snow melts, it sinks into the ground. As the rain comes, if it’s not heavy, heavy rain, it goes right to the ground, and all the dead, leftover grass from the marsh, from hay fields, from other fields, is what’s left on the top. As soon as there’s any dry air or sun, it dries up, and away the fires go,” Guptill says.
The risk of grass fires begins in the spring, but it will last right through the summer, especially if there are dry conditions.
“It will decrease a little bit when the new growth of grass comes up. We have a lot of places now around the city that wood has been cut and just left. We call it slash. There are a lot of places around the Wheeler Boulevard area. This slash will always be prone to lighting up, and it’s really hard for us to put out,” Guptill adds.
He adds people need to be very careful, because many grass fires are caused due to human error.
“One of the things that we need to educate the public about is cigarette butts and making sure they get put out. A lot of these grass fires are from cigarette butts that get flicked out the window of a moving car or somebody that’s walking. It creates a lot of issues for us because in the springtime, it can be quite breezy. When those cigarette butts land on top of some of this dead grass, away it (the fire) goes,” Guptill says
He also suggests raking up some of the old dead grass, whether it’s in your backyard or elsewhere, and it can help with prevention.
Sometimes, it happens on the marsh or it is the result of a campfire, and it’s important that the public report it if they see smoke or flames.
“We would much rather get there ahead of it, because what can happen with a grass fire is, once it gets going, it actually creates its own wind and creates its own momentum. So the quicker we can get there, the better, and the easier it is to put out,” Guptill stresses.
The other thing Guptill says the public might notice is that the smoke will be really dark if there’s fresh growth in the area of the fire.
