Fires have been lit since July 29, a Macklin Fire Department rep said
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A fire department in a rural Saskatchewan community is offering a cash reward hoping it will help identify who is responsible for a string of hay bale fires.
Macklin & District Fire/Rescue, as of the afternoon of Aug. 21, has $21,500 available to anyone who can provide information that helps lead to the arrest of those committing these crimes.
The fire department initially offered a $3,000 reward.
The reward has grown with help from community donors.
The first calls for hay bale fires came in on July 29 and have continued since, Chief Justin Bast told CTV.
“It’s very random and all over the place,” he told CTV. “I have no idea why it’s happening. Someone seems to be doing it for kicks and we don’t know if it’s one person or multiple people.”
Evidence from past investigations indicate these fires may be the work of an arsonist.
"There have been some flammable containers found by some of the bales — aerosols that were possibly sprayed on," Bast told CBC. "It's happening in broad daylight. It's something that looks unsuspicious because of that. They're not sneaking around and hiding. They're doing it out in plain sight so it looks obvious."
Recent incidents have also included grass and standing wheat.
On its Facebook page, the Macklin fire department, which is run by volunteers, keeps community members updated about the calls it receives related to the hay bale fires.
On Aug. 20, crews received a call at 10:14 that morning about a grass fire 11 miles east of Macklin. At 3:51 in the afternoon firefighters responded to a small ditch fire east of Macklin, a post says.
And two days ago, around 10:30pm, crews responses to a fire west of Macklin near Express Ave.
Anyone with information related to the hay bale fires are asked to contact Saskatchewan RCMP.
Under section 433 of the Criminal Code, anyone who is found guilty of arson is liable to life imprisonment.