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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - A grass fire in Fort Simpson left one house with scorch marks on an outside wall and a blackened lawn on May 22.

The Fort Simpson Volunteer Fire Department received a call about the fire at approximately 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

Members of the Fort Simpson Volunteer Fire Department douse the lawns around two houses on 92 Avenue while combating the second grass fire of the year in the village. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

A resident had been using a fire pit and overfilled it with wood, said Pat Rowe, volunteer fire chief. Sparks from the pit ignited the surrounding grass between two houses at the end of 92 Avenue, the street beside Fort Simpson Territorial Park. Light grey smoke from the fire billowed across the village's main street.

When 12 members of the department arrived, the fire had already spread to cover an area of 200 by 100 metres, moving into the bush behind the houses, Rowe said.

The spread of the fire was assisted by "extremely dry conditions," the fire chief said. The blaze threatened both houses and one of them received minor damage to an outside wall, said Rowe.

Within 45 minutes of their arrival, firefighters had extinguished the fires around the houses and successfully put out the bush fire.

This is the village's second grass fire of the year. The first occurred approximately a week earlier on 100 Street in a lot near Fort Simpson Beverages.

The cause of the first fire is unknown, but members of the department quickly extinguished it, Rowe said.

Rowe is asking residents to take special precautions when using backyard fire and burn pits.

"Until the grass gets green it's pretty dry conditions right now," he said.