Rural Saskatchewan fire department offers $20K reward as it battles hay bale arson attacks

Crews snuff out hay bales on fire near Macklin, Sask., in a July 30, 2024, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Justin Bast

Macklin -

A string of suspected arsons on hay bales, grass and crops around a west-central Saskatchewan town has been both agitating and perplexing, says the local fire chief.

It has also prompted a $20,000 reward.

Justin Bast of the Macklin fire department said crews have responded to more than 20 such fires in the last month. He said that's normally about the number of calls his team receives in a year.

"I've been on the department for 29 years and this is the first that we have had somebody doing this," Bast said in an interview.

"It's been very hard on the department.

"It's the summer, people are gone and schedules don't always line up."

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Bast said it began July 29 with crews having to snuff out a bunch of hay bales on fire in a ditch. There were more fires in ditches that day and into the evening and early morning.

Two days later, the department had asked farmers to round up their bales and take them home. But the fires kept coming in the weeks that followed.

"It's very random and all over the place," Bast said.

"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."

More recently, Bast said, crews had to put out small fires that were burning grass and standing wheat.

He said he wants to catch those involved before harvest gets into full swing.

"Most fires have not gotten out of control because it's still green enough. It's not spreading fast like it would be in the upcoming weeks," he said.

The board that oversees the fire department is offering a $20,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest of those involved. The offer had originally been $3,000.

"It's easier to have 1,000 eyes than 10-15 firemen looking around," Bast said.

"The community realizes this is taxing, to say the least, but there's a lot of people phoning with tips and ideas."

Macklin is 250 kilometres west of Saskatoon near the Alberta boundary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2024.