A Raging Prairie Fire

Can you imagine living and ranching on the western prairie and witnessing a raging prairie fire forced by the wind, approaching and devouring everything in its path, fed by tall prairie grasses and bush.  Your home and those of your neighbors are the inevitable victims, along with all your personal belongings and your livestock.  You can’t just stand there watching the advancing smoke and flames in the distance and do nothing.  If you have disking equipment you will hitch it to your tractor and be out there making a firebreak.  You’ll enlist all your friends around to do what they can too, with wet sacks, and you will call the municipal offices to send their graders, bulldozers and fire trucks.

This was the experience in October, for our nephew and his parents who are ranchers along the west side of Lake Manitoba.  He told us about the horrifying four days that he and his fellow ranchers spent fighting the flames that were threatening their homes, buildings and livestock.  On the first day, they were instructed by the fire marshal to stop work because bears would be forced ahead of the fire and would be in a frenzied state, likely to attack anyone they encountered.  In the following days and nights, everyone worked feverishly, grading, bulldozing and fighting the fire with water hoses from municipal fire trucks. 

Our nephew witnessed many small animals being devoured by the fire while attempting to keep ahead of the flames and smoke.  Birds flying above would plummet from the sky.  Those in the midst of choking smoke could barely see because their eyes were smarting.  With their lungs polluted by smoke, breathing was painful.  While they fought the flames that arose here and there, our nephew’s wife was emptying belongings of value from her in-law’s home and loading them into a farm truck.  At her own home, she put prize pigeons into cages and loaded them as well.  They were the evidence of years of devoted care and breeding, and were recognized by pigeon fanciers far and wide.  She also rounded up cattle and horses and led them to the roadway out of the fire’s way.  You can imagine our nephew’s deep appreciation for his dear wife’s thoughtfulness in trying to save what was near and dear to him.

On the fourth day, everyone was worn out and suffering from smoke inhalation.  The fire was within a quarter mile of our nephew’s folk’s home when the wind subsided and a light rain came, followed by a heavy downpour.  The fire was quenched.  The reaction of those who stood there watching, was “Thank God for that!  We could have lost everything!”  Though our nephew stated that he doesn’t consider himself a religious person, he does, nevertheless, admit that there has to be Someone up there who cares for us and has control over things that are beyond our abilities.