A car caught fire not far from the village of Hitchcock at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon, and the Estevan Fire Department was called to extinguish it. Crews had to put out not only the car fire but a small grass fire that started nearby as well. 

"Crews did arrive on scene to indeed find a vehicle was on fire," said Fire Chief Dale Feser, "as well as a medium-sized vegetation fire that had occurred as a result of the vehicles having some issues."

Feser said the fire occurred close to the train tracks, so they informed CP Rail of their efforts to battle the blaze. Crews got the fire extinguished without any injury to themselves or the car owner, but the vehicle was destroyed. 

"At this time, the cause of the fire is currently under investigation," Feser said. "It seemed to suffer some sort of mechanical failure, and they were trying to fix it at the time the fire had started."

The grass fire might have proved a lot more serious had it happened just a few days earlier when the Estevan area was still at a high wildfire risk. A downpour on Sunday evening may have helped dampen the grass.

"Obviously when you see a large amount of moisture coming into the air via precipitation or rain," said Feser, "it definitely suppresses the ability of the fire to spread quickly. Given the location of the fire, it was a great job by the individual involved to call 9-1-1 as soon as possible."

The rain was good news for the fire department, making their suppression effort easier. The weather wasn't all cooperative however, as high winds have made any fire call more challenging in the southeast lately. 

"It wasn't too much of a factor," Feser said. "Obviously you get into an open area like that, not a lot of windbreaks in the area, it definitely plays a role in it, but it didn't hamper us too terribly much."

Feser added they're keeping a close eye on the weather this week in case the rains that are on the way cause any flooding or other damage, or in case more heavy winds blow things around.