EDMONTON – A subdivision about 45 minutes west of Edmonton was evacuated Sunday afternoon over concern sparked by a brush fire.
A post on the Parkland County Facebook page said the Edinburgh Park subdivision was evacuated and people were being asked to avoid the area while fire crews attended a fire along the south and east edges of Duffield.
READ MORE: Fire bans in place across Alberta as province braces for wildfire season
Duffield is located about 65 kilometres west of Edmonton. Along Township Road 524B is the subdivision of Edinburgh Park.
RCMP said the fire was roughly 3.1 kilometres in size and progressing in the south and north direction.
“It definitely started right in the area of Range Road 32 and then progressed east from there,” Sgt. Lorne Adamitz with Stony Plain/Spruce Grove RCMP. “For safety sake, we evacuated the residents (in Edinburgh Park) along that path.”
“Rail traffic has been stopped because that would be going right along where the fire is progressing,” said Sgt. Adamitz. “Right now there is no threat to the town of Duffield.”
An emergency evacuation centre was set up at Manley Hall.
Police continue to investigate the origin of the grass fire near Duffield.
READ MORE: ‘The fear is how dry will it get’: Lesser Slave Lake fire chief on Alberta’s tinder-dry conditions
Currently, much of Alberta — particularly in the central and southern part of the province — is under either a fire ban, fire restriction, or fire advisory due to tinder-dry conditions.
A large grass fire was also being reported in the Pigeon Lake area Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday afternoon, a Facebook post from an account belonging to the Mulhurst Bay Fire and Rescue Department, said crews were battling a grass fire near Maskwacis and that part of Highway 780 was being closed while crews try to put the fire out.
Global News has not been able to confirm details with local fire officials but an employee at the Village Market in Pigeon Lake said multiple customers were reporting a large grass fire burning close to a nearby First Nations reserve.
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