Firefighters from Emerson helped battle a brush and grass fire Tuesday along the Canada/ U.S. border.

Emerson Fire Chief Jeff French says they were called in around 1 pm. He says a controlled burn was done a few days ago near the border crossing and French suggests it could be the strong south wind yesterday caused sparks to flare-up.

The fire burned about three or four miles wide on the American side. French says it wasn't as large on this side of the border, only consuming about 30 acres.

He says many different agencies assisted with putting out the blaze, including water bombers, one from as far away as Ontario. French says with the help of air support they were able to protect the Canadian side.

While there were evacuations stateside, French says they gave notice that evacuations may happen in Canada too, but it never reached that point.

He says no buildings were lost in the fire and his firefighters were back at the hall at around 10:30 pm.

According to French, it is very common for his department to assist the Americans in this way. He notes they have a good working relationship with their counterparts south of the border and a mutual agreement allows each side to cross the border when called upon.

"All our passports are given up to customs before time and run," explains French. "So we do a lot of firefighting in the U.S.A. and just given the proximity of our location and vice versa we get them in to help us out. We hook up with them quite a bit."