Kensington firefighters respond to 2nd field fire this week
'His baler had caught fire and it started the field on fire'
The Kensington fire department responded to its third fire call this week, and second for a field fire.
A portion of a farmer's field in Margate, P.E.I., caught fire Thursday afternoon.
Kensington firefighters responded to the scene and were able to put the fire out shortly after arriving.
According to Chief Rodney Hickey, high heat and dry conditions likely contributed.
"The farmer was brown baling straw. His baler had caught fire and it started the field on fire," he said.
"It burned a fair little, but they got on top of it real quick and got the baler out, and the field."
Hickey said his members are on pins and needles because of the high volume of calls this week.
"They're pretty stressed out," said Hickey.
Dry conditions
The department responded to a grain field fire along North Freetown Road on Tuesday, and later in the day was called to a fire at a two-storey house in Sea View.
On Monday, the farm safety co-ordinator with the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture said the risk of fires breaking out is elevated due to the dry conditions.
The Fire Weather Index is listed as extreme in the western and central southeastern regions of the province and moderate for the northeastern region.
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With files from Angela Walker