TRAMPING LAKE — The community of Tramping Lake lost two homes, with damage to a third as a result of a fire fuelled by dry conditions and extreme winds May 5.
“We weren’t home when it started but could see the smoke as we arrived back to town after attending a funeral,” Tramping Lake Mayor Christine Lang says,
Lang says their village doesn’t have the capacity for a fire hydrant nor enough pressure in the water plant to fight a fire. Mayor Lang said they are grateful for farmers who came from their fields with water trucks and other equipment, as well as Lakeview Colony.
“We were dispatched to what was reported as a shed fire in Tramping Lake,” Lieutenant Brad Murphy of the Kerrobert Fire Department says.
“The village is at the end of our call district, so it took us about half an hour to get there and once we arrived on scene, we were attending a fully involved fire due to wind and conditions.”
Murphy said they knew immediately they needed help and were very thankful to Unity Fire Department for their assistance knowing it is hard to leave home base when there are high winds and conditions such as these.
“The fire had almost destroyed one property already and had already skipped across the street and was threatening to go out of town as grass fires had started west of the community,” adds Murphy.
KFD members joined the community of Tramping Lake in extending gratitude for the community response as farmers with tractors and discs, water trucks and other equipment came as quickly as they could.
“It was a bad fire that needed a lot of bodies and a lot of equipment to try and contain because of the conditions that were involved,” Murphy says.
KFD arrived on the scene around 6 p.m. and the last tuck left the scene around midnight, presenting back for service at 1 a.m.
“The fire was incredibly hot making it hard to get close however when firefighters from Kerrobert and Unity arrived they had the capability of getting in closer to fight the fire,” Lang says.
Lang laments the two homes lost, saying one of them was the home of their town maintenance person and the community has rallied to secure him a place to live. Lang had not had a chance to speak to the other resident who lost their home.
“This is devastating for our little town as it was on Main Street and leaves a big hole. The third home has exterior damage. I was very thankful to learn there were no losses or injuries, not even a pet,” adds Lang.
Tramping Lake’s mayor said while she does not know the cause of this fire, the village had issued a fire ban May 2.
Tramping Lake resident, Rose Simon, said in a social media post, following the event, “On one of the windiest days of the year, Tramping Lake has three houses on fire today; two burned to the ground, one was saved, and no one was hurt.”
Simon also credited the fire departments, farmers and Lakeview Colony who assisted with the firefighting in addition to Kindersley RCMP and SaskPower and SaskEnergy. All efforts combined to save the little town.
