(Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Melfort ATV Fire

ATV in Melfort garage catches fire

Mar 4, 2019 | 4:48 PM

A Melfort man was left with minor injuries due smoke inhalation after his ATV caught fire in his unattached garage.

The man’s ATV caught fire when he attempted to start it. The man resorted to shoveling snow on to the small fire to extinguish it.

A bystander called 9-1-1 and the Melfort Fire Department responded to 300 Burrows Ave. W. with the fire having already been extinguished.

Emergency medical staff treated the man, released him on scene, and provided him with information on what to do if he started experiencing difficulties due to smoke, although he wasn’t in distress at the time.

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Melfort firefighters checked the garage with their thermal imaging camera and determined there wasn’t any other visible damage, except some smoke damage on the inside of the garage and plastics melted off the ATV.

Jason Everitt, Melfort’s fire chief, wants the public to be aware of the risks when putting out small fires on their own.

“Vehicle fires are some of the most dangerous fires out there, just because of the products and the nature of those products when they burn,” Everitt told northeastNOW. “Exposure, even to small amounts of some of the smoke, can be quite toxic.

“If a fire is still small and you feel you can put that fire out with a portable fire extinguisher, or in this case snow, without being exposed to it or injured, then that’s a decision you make. But if the fire is growing rapidly or a significant amount of smoke is being produced, just back away from it, call 9-1-1, and the responders that are properly trained and equipped to operate those environments can get there.”

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow