Macklin fire department offers $3,000 reward for suspected hay bale arsonist

The Macklin fire department hopes a $3,000 reward can snuff out a string of hay bale fires it suspects is the work of an arsonist.

The all-volunteer department responded to 13 calls about bale fires in a two-week stretch beginning July 29. Without any suspects, its using a cash reward to flush out tips.

Fire Chief Justin Bast said the bale blazes haven't caused too much damage, yet.  

"A couple weeks from now, once it dries up and the fields start ripening, this can get a whole lot worse in a real hurry," he said in an interview. "If it gets into a standing crop, it's going to go fairly fast and do a large amount of damage for those farmers."

The majority of fires happened during the day, in ditches along highways and grid roads in the Macklin area. The town is about 250 kilometres west of Saskatoon.

Evidence, such as bales with burn marks that look like failed ignition attempts, suggests this is the work of an arsonist, Bast said.

"There have been some flammable containers found by some of the bales — aerosols that were possibly sprayed on," Bast said. "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."

All of the department's firefighters are volunteers. They leave their regular jobs — sometimes without pay — when called to emergencies. Bast said despite the frequent bale fire calls, "the crew is still in good spirits and everybody's happy to roll out of the hall."

A hay bale fire isn't easy to extinguish, especially if a farmer isn't immediately available to lend the crew a tractor.

"The only way to put these out is to bust them apart and let them burn once they are started," said Bast, a 29-year veteran of the fire department. "You can put thousands of gallons of water on them when they are whole and they just don't go out."

The $3,000 reward is for any information that leads to an arrest in the case. Bast said to contact the Macklin fire department with tips.

RCMP confirmed that they are investigating the fires.