A massive fire that engulfed the CN rail trestle bridge on the northwest edge of Mayerthorpe Tuesday afternoon has been deemed suspicious by RCMP.
The local fire department said it has been called out to battle 17 fires in the area in the past six days. Mayerthorpe RCMP confirmed they have been called in to investigate five fires over the past 10 days.
“There’s a very good chance that they could be linked and that’s something that we have to keep in mind. It seems quite unusual that there would be five fires in such a short period of time and they not be linked in some way,” Cpl. Grant Kneller said.
“We’ve come to expect that there’s going to be a fire this afternoon and that kind of thing and that expectation shouldn’t be there,” Chief Randy Schroeder with the Mayerthorpe Fire Department said.
Provincial fire investigators and CN Rail authorities remained on scene Wednesday afternoon to try to determine the cause of the blaze, which started at 1:20 p.m. Tuesday.
READ MORE: Massive Mayerthorpe trestle bridge fire being investigated as arson
A steady stream of heavy equipment could be seen driving into the area Wednesday to deal with the aftermath. Video from the Global 1 news helicopter captured the amount of destruction caused by the fire.
Watch below: Mayerthorpe trestle bridge engulfed in fire Tuesday and the aftermath Wednesday
About 34 local firefighters were called in to battle Tuesday’s blaze, which was contained just before 4:30 p.m. The 1,100-foot wooden trestle bridge collapsed in the fire.
The CN Rail line, which stretches from Edmonton to Smoke Lake (near Fox Creek), runs through the town of Whitecourt. Without the trestle bridge, rail service to the community will be put on hold.
From forestry to aggregate to oil and gas, at least 12 businesses will be affected. Whitecourt’s mayor said it may prove to be challenging, but those companies will have to rely on the trucking industry for the time being.
The Mayerthorpe high school and the Kreek’s Krossing trailer park were evacuated for a short period of time Tuesday afternoon as a precaution. More than 260 students and residents of 38 mobile homes were sent to the town’s community centre, which was temporarily set up as an evacuation centre.
Watch below: The massive fire is out, but a lot of work continues at the scene of yesterday’s trestle bridge fire. Fletcher Kent is there.
A fire ban that had been in place for Mayerthorpe was lifted Monday morning. Mayerthorpe is located about 135 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
With files from Karen Bartko, Global News.