Buzz off: bees swarm brigade responding to Saskatoon fire

The Saskatoon Fire Department was faced with a new challenge while they responded to a garage fire on Wednesday morning: bees.

At roughly 10 a.m., the Saskatoon Fire Department received numerous 911 calls reporting smoke from a garage in the 2000 block of St. Henry Avenue. When crews arrived, they found a structure that was on fire and noted "significant bee activity in the area of the garage."

Crews were informed by the homeowner that they had pieces of equipment associated with beekeeping in the garage, including a live hive outside nearby. 

"Some of the hives were involved in the fire and our crews had to extinguish the fire while watching for bees," said Steve Brissaw, a battalion chief with the Saskatoon Fire Department. 

"Our firefighters are very well protected with their [personal protective equipment], so it's pretty hard for a bee to get inside of our turnout gear," he said. "And we do have ambulance and fire paramedics on scene, so if there is a reaction to a bee sting, we could be taking care of that as well."

Brissaw said he hasn't heard any reports of stings, but said bees were swarming the area. 

He explained while there are always hazards facing fire crews on the job, the presence of bees at a call was uncommon. 

"This is quite rare. As a matter of fact, I've never heard of this type of an encounter with bees before," he said. "But there's always some form of hazard that our firefighters need to look at and ensure that we're safe around, be it dogs or power lines." 

Some of the hives were damaged, but some were saved, Brissaw said, noting a fire inspector is on scene and working to determine the cause of the fire. He said the homeowner did have concerns about wax in the garage, as it is a flammable material.

Overhead power lines on site were also a potential danger, but utility crews were called and power was shut off to the whole block. 

The fire was brought under control in roughly 20 minutes, according to Saskatoon's fire department. A damage estimate, alongside the cause of the fire, is still being determined. 

There were no injuries as a result of the blaze.