Students and staff at Kisipatnahk School in Maskwacis, Alta. were forced out Monday when a grass fire got too close for comfort.
There are 212 children enrolled at the school, which offers K-9 education as well as a Youth Outreach Program out of the Louis Bull Education Centre. There are 28 staff members at the school, according to its website.
Photos from the area show children being led away from the school while smoke billows in the background.
Fire crews from Wetaskiwin and Ponoka were called in to assist with the fire near the Louis Bull townsite.
Residents from 40 homes were also forced out at around 11 a.m. as a precaution.
“It got scary because it came across the road three times and we all started panicking because I have my three little ones,” resident Cara Brown said. “We just got in the truck with my in-laws and then we got evacuated again to the rec centre.”
“For safety reasons we thought it would be best to evacuate the public and have them go to a safer area just in case the fire did come into the community and start affecting structures there,” RCMP Insp. Earl Nini explained.
“We didn’t want to take the chance.”
Just before 3 p.m., students and staff were cleared to go back inside, but school officials decided to send everyone home for the day. Residents were also allowed to return home.
RCMP said one structure was damaged by fire but it was abandoned at the time. Fire crews had the blaze contained by Monday afternoon.
Greg Minde, manager of fire and disaster services for Ermineskin Cree Nation, said he believed the fire was intentionally set because it “started in the middle of the field.”
Kisipatnahk School is approximately 100 kilometres south of Edmonton.
No one was injured in the fire.
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