The smoke is still rising from the scene of Wednesday's huge fire which killed a man near Winkler. The lingering wisps of burnt flax are all that remain of a thousands bales.

The first wave of firefighters is considered crucial to battling a fire. Winkler's all-volunteer force had a big responsibility Wednesday.

They headed out to fight a fire after the 90,000 flax bales went up in flames.

The fire appears to have started in two different places. That suggests arson.

The heat from the blaze was so intense it created a tornado of fire. The tornado was so strong it picked up a truck that had three employees inside.

Irv Harder, 63, was sucked out of the truck and burned. He later died in hospital. That has turned this arson into a homicide investigation.

Harder had been called in from home to help with the fire. His two sons, family and friends spent the day in shock.

The fire was so intense, water bombers had to be used to battle it. Even now, smoke still rises from the soot covered ground.

Investigators from Manitoba's Workplace Health and Safety joined other investigators at the scene.

They'll decide what caused this disaster and determine if the death could have been prevented.

One thing they are looking at are regulations governing the storage of straw bales. There are no regulations on how straw bales should be stacked together and how for apart those stacks should be.