Roads reopen following brush fires along Winnipeg rail line

Streets have reopened after brush fires along a rail line near Winnipeg's Charleswood and Tuxedo neighbourhoods were put out Sunday evening.

Winnipeg police had closedWilkesAvenue eastofFairmontRoad and divertedtraffic on Sterling Lyon Parkway at Shaftesbury Boulevard as crews battled the fire.

In a tweet, police also said Assiniboine forest hasreopenedto pedestrian traffic.

The fire, which started around 3 p.m. CT had threatened a retirement residence, but fire crews were able to keep the fire away from the ShaftesburyPark Retirement Residence.

However, itsfence was damaged bythe fire.

A city spokesperson saidno building evacuations were ordered.

Gerry Letandre, a cyclistwho had ridden his bike down from the western edge of the city, said he "could see smoke from the Perimeter Highway."

"[The fire] is almost all the way down Wilkes."

John Wheeler owns Hackers andSmackers Driving Range, which sits just north of the rail line at at the corner of Elmhurst Road and WilkesAvenue.

Wheeler says as the flames started edging up to his driving range shortly after 3 p.m.He, along with his daughter and four customers who had been golfing at the range, used the range'sirrigation system, a pump and hoses to start dousing the flames.

"We tried to put it out so it wouldn'tgo on any further, plus it was coming onto the property," he said. "I just didn't want it to burn our signs down."

Wheeler says it tookthe makeshift fire crew about an hour to put out the fire on his property.

A CBCvideographeron scene saidthere are severalsmaller fires along the railway tracks beside Wilkes, including a large one near FairmontRoad. They said crews from eight fire trucks were on scene.