Fire brought under control near Rodd Crowbush resort in Lakeside, P.E.I.

Firefighters from several P.E.I. departments raced to the Links at Crowbush Cove property on Monday to battle what RCMP called a forest fire near Lakeside Road in the West St. Peters area.

They had brought it under control by late in the afternoon, though some spots were still smouldering. In all, nearly three hectares of land burned, equal to about seven acres. 

"The RCMP request that the public refrain from driving on Route 350 to allow emergency crews clear access to the site," the police force tweeted just before 2 p.m. AT. 

Fire crews at the site were dragging hoses around the Rodd resort's tennis courts and monitoring a large propane tank at about that time.

The Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action confirmed P.E.I.'s wildfire response staff were on the scene of a fire along the tree line. 

Six local fire departments were helping combat the fire: Morell, St. Peters, East River, Souris, Cardigan and Georgetown.

"First, it was mostly on the other side of the road. Then it jumped across, and once it jumped across, we called in extra help to try fighting it," Alan Robbins, chief of the Morell Fire Department, told CBC News Monday afternoon.

"With this wind, it's just pretty near impossible to stop. Just thank God it had no more woods to go ahead," Robbins said.

He said it would have been a "disaster" if the fire had reached the propane tank, which fuels restaurant operations at Crowbush.

The province's fire marshal office was also on the scene, a spokesperson with the Environment Department said in an email.

"The wind is making fire response challenging," the email said. "We are asking that members of the public keep their distance and allow for first responders to do their work."

The spokesperson said there is no word on a cause yet. 

CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland said he winds from the east-southeast were picking up Monday afternoon, with gusts of 60-80 km/h.

Scotland pointed out that April was an extremely dry month for the province, though rain was finally setting in by mid-afternoon Monday. 

Most parts of the province are tinder-dry, with tree debris left behind by post-tropical storm Fiona raising fears of a summer with more forest and grass fires than usual. 

'Flattened by Fiona'

Mark Rostad, project manager with Rodd Hotels, said the fire "was traveling along the brush line between the golf course and the resort property, and all those trees were just flattened by Fiona. 

"That wood has just been sitting there and drying over the winter time... Whatever the source of ignition was, we don't know yet, but it didn't take much with this wind to travel that fast."

Rostad said the 20 to 30 staff members who were at the resort Monday were sent home as a precaution after the fire broke out.

He said he doesn't expect the fire to delay the resort's planned opening for the season on May 15.