La Broquerie fire crews had their hands full Friday evening battling a grass fire on Loewen Boulevard about two miles west of La Broquerie.  Fire Chief Alain Nadeau notes the fire was moving pretty quickly toward a residential area.  "It was hairy for a while there but we managed to put it out without losing any buildings."

"It was actually started by some people in a backyard with a large firepit," he says.  "That is a big no-no right now.  The burn ban is still on.  I think you are allowed in a small fire pit at night but no large burning of garbage during the day or in larger pits like that."

Nadeau says they were called late Friday afternoon.  "The call came in around 4:30pm and we were done about 9:30pm so it was quite extensive.  No buildings were lost but one firefighter was sent to hospital and one was treated in the ambulance.  Smoke inhalation and exhaustion."

He adds it is still dangerous to burn.  "We really didn't get any rain and it's still very dry out there.  Until everything gets green above the dry stuff, it's going to burn."