Edmonton grass fire season starts early

There’s still snow on the ground, but already grass fires are flaring up throughout Alberta.

Monday afternoon fire crews in Edmonton were scrambling to contain a large fire in Rundle Park.

"We were trying to keep it from crossing the road here into the golf course," said Cpt. Frank Vansoest with Edmonton Fire Rescue.

Fire crews manage to contain the blaze in about an hour, though not before another fire was started just north of their location.

"It was there, and all of a sudden it was 50 feet across within 20 seconds," said Paul Kraemer, who spotted the fire and quickly called 911.

Fire crews in Calgary were also kept busy Monday afternoon, working to contain a large fire near the Heritage Pointe golf course.

While there is still plenty of snow covering ground that doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight, areas where melting has occurred are already very dry.

"That top layer has seen a lot of wind over the last few days," said Global Edmonton chief meteorologist Nicola Crosbie. "Temperatures were 17, yesterday at 16. It doesn’t take much heat and wind to dry out that grass."

Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fires, but warn people to be extra cautious this time of year.

"It dries out in a heck of a hurry and next thing you know, one little spark and up goes an acre," Vansoest said.