Emergency crews called to grassfire believed to be sparked by train

Smoke from a grass fire near Regina's Uplands neighbourhood can be seen around 2:30 Saturday afternoon. (RhondaNye/CTVNews)

Regina Fire crews along with security from the Co-op Refinery Complex were on the scene of a grassfire near the city’s Uplands neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon.

Refinery security officials told CTV News they believed the fire was started by sparks from a passing train and that it was already contained when they arrived at the scene.

Residents who live nearby also said they thought sparks from a train ignited the fire, adding that the area is currently very dry and there has been little to no rain this spring.

However, at 5 p.m. Deputy Fire Chief with Regina Fire and Protective Services, Gord Hewitt told CTV news they have yet to determine an official cause.

Hewitt said the fire was large and that they responded with two wildland trucks, as well as two pumps, a water tanker and command unit.

“A large area burned but they did manage to keep it from impacting any structures. So they do have that fire contained right now but they’re continuing to put out hot spots and they’ll just continue to work away until they get it completely out,” Hewitt told CTV News.

Second plume of smoke

Later in the afternoon Saturday a second plume of smoke south of Regina could also be seen.

Hewitt said they believe it was a controlled burn outside of their jurisdiction, adding they haven’t had any incident reported to them as of 4:45 p.m.

“We haven’t had any calls, but our assistant chief did take a drive out there and was doing some tracking and there may be a controlled burn that is out of our jurisdiction.”

“It’s visible, so we’ve done some inquiries, but we haven’t received any phone calls and we believe it’s a controlled burn outside of our jurisdiction,” Hewitt reiterated.

-With files from Sierra D’Souza Butts