Tuesday afternoon Kindersley residents spotted smoke south of town, which has now been confirmed it was another grass fire.

The Kindersley Fire Department received the call at 3:54 pm and were on scene by 4:07. Deputy Fire Chief, Jeff Soveran, stated that the blaze was located in a pasture approximately seven kilometers southeast of Kindersley.

The fire kept the volunteer firefighters on scene actively fighting the fire for approximately two hours and 15 minutes. Soveran shared that the terrain posed certain complications while fighting the fire including rocky areas that required ATV’s to help the firefighters get to where they needed to be to extinguish the fire.

No injuries were reported, however, the fire got within a few hundred feet of a nearby farmyard but crews were able to contain the fire to prevent it reaching the rural residence.

Power poles in the burn area did catch on fire and Soveran said a few did almost collapse, and one eventually did.

"We did have one power pole collapse, but SaskPower was there right away and grounded it out so we were good to go," said Soveran.

The cause and exact size of the fire is yet to be determined.

While speaking in regards to the grass fire in the RM of Biggar, Saskatchewan’s Fire Commissioner, Duane McKay, reiterated the severity of the conditions currently plaguing the southern part of the province.

“Volatile conditions continue to persist in the south part of the province including south of Meadow Lake to the border and approximately the western two-thirds of the province are being subjected to extremely dry conditions and those parts are considered to be at a high to extreme risk for fires,” said McKay.

Soveran reminds residence, motorist, and visitors to the area that it is not just open flame that can cause a fire that can quickly get out of control.

“People need to keep in mind, in these conditions it anything that creates heat, which could be a hot exhaust pipe on an ATV or truck, a cigarette butt or even mowing your lawn and hitting a rock which can create sparks,” said Soveran.

Both fire officials urge rural and urban residents to be diligent with fire preventative measures until conditions change. This includes having your sprinklers ready on your lawns and even watering your lawns to encourage new growth and combat dry grass and bushes. Additionally McKay said to remove debris from your yard including grass clippings, garbage and scraps that could be easily flammable.

In the event you start, or see, a fire, McKay said to immediately call 9-1-1.

“In many cases, these fires are going to be in rural areas, so people need to call 9-1-1 immediately so crews can deploy and get there as fast as they can, which could still be several minutes depending on the location of the fire, but the sooner we know, the sooner we can react,” said McKay.

Numerous municipalities and rural municipalities have fire bans in effect until further notice in an effort to prevent fires during these vulnerable conditions.

To view all the fire bans across the province, visit saskatchewan.ca/fire.