Crop saved
Firefighters extinguish strawberry field blaze, police investigating
Matt Compton got a call Friday morning that any farmer would dread.
There was a fire in one of his strawberry fields.
Compton was working nearby when a neighbour called to say smoke could be seen rising from a field on the outskirts of Summerside, along the Lyle Road. He rushed over to find at least three bales of straw, which were spaced about 15 metres apart, on fire.
He called 911.
“To get a call like that, you’re in disbelief at first,” said Compton.
“Sometimes when you get a bit of moisture in a bale they’ll heat and cause smoke, so I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into it when I first got the phone call.
“But once I got to the field I saw what could have been a major disaster.”
Summerside police believe the fires are suspicious and are now investigating. Anyone with any information related to this case is asked to contact them.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the bales relatively quickly, and there was only minimal damage to the Compton’s berry crop.
It could have been much worse, said Compton.
Strawberry producers cover their crops with straw in the fall to protect it for the winter. Compton had just recently uncovered his crop and rolled the straw back into bales, but there was still plenty of dry material littering the field.
“Luckily the wind wasn’t very strong at the time … if the wind would have caught that it would have lit the whole field on fire.”
This situation has made him reevaluate his past security arrangements as well.
He doesn’t relish having to do that, he said, but he’s got a business that people rely on to think about.
“You work so damn hard to put food on your table and put food on other people’s table – it’s just depressing is all.”