With fires still burning north of Langruth, local residents near the blaze weigh in on the situation. Gary Hill, a local farmer, agrees with Municipality of Westlake Gladstone Mayor David Single that a bylaw needs to be in place regarding burn permits.

Fires burning along Road 58 West last night near Langruth"I don't want to be hard on the farmers," says Hill. "I think a lot of them are pretty responsible about this sort of thing. I've been told by some that we cannot stop it all. But if you stop 90 percent of the problem, you're dealing with another 10 or 20 percent you can't stop. Have something that goes out with your tax bill every year. It can state on there what you need to do, who you need to contact, when you want a burn permit, and if you can burn at particular times of the year with a contact number to consult pertinent sources for dates. When everyone understands the rules, if they drop a match it's their responsibility to look after that -- nobody else's. If an RCMP officer goes to a site where burning is taking place, failure to produce a permit would warrant a fine. I don't think I'm being mean. We had fire-burn bans around the Trans-Canada and similar areas because people have been killed. Tons of property have been lost here along with bales and fences here. But because it only happens to us in a small percentage of the region, it doesn't matter to others."

Hill explains farms equipped with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of machinery can easily take the time to fireguard as well. So, why not protect it, he asks.

Hill notes he's taken measures to ensure his property's protected using a leaf blower, efforts to back-burn around his bale-grazing area, a disk, and four wheel drive tractor dedicated solely for fire-guarding around his yard with a double fireguard of burned vegetation to hinder fires from moving across. He says he's located a mile south of the fire, and if the wind shifts, which happens often, he will be in danger.

He notes the fire department does an excellent job, and shouldn't be present and burdened with this issue. Hill adds all kinds of efforts can be made to curb the problem, including travel bans, and seizure of equipment. The marsh could be made a zone disallowing burning unless strict rules are adhered to. He notes their area is not like quarters of land with roads all around it making it accessible to deal with in an efficient manner.

Hill acknowledges work's required to enforce anything. With burn permits in place, if someone gets away with negligence, they tend to do it again. And with the wildfire act in place, anyone who sees a fire is obligated to report it, but that's not even being done. Hill explains he has cattle he can't move directly around his home to ensure their safety.