CALGARY- Fire crews pulled out all the stops on Friday afternoon to extinguish a massive grass fire that came dangerously close to homes.
The blaze broke out around 1 p.m. on Friday in the northwest community of Bowness. Billowing smoke could be seen from kilometers away, and when fire crews arrived they found several fires burning near the CP Rail line.
Some residents were forced to evacuate, as the blaze came close to homes.
“Crews were trying to get a good grip on how big this fire was,” explains District Chief Allan Ball from the Calgary Fire Department. “They were obscured by smoke on arrival. In their size-up, they thought it was probably best to egress the people for their own safety, so we could get a real handle on how many fires were burning and how big it was.”
Three pets were also pulled out of homes, and were put in the care of Animal Services.
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Southbound Sarcee Trail between Bow Trail and 16 Ave. had to be shut down because of the fires, but was re-opened around 4 p.m. when crews got control of the fire.
Conditions in and around Calgary are tinder-dry, sparking a fire advisory in the city and fire bans around the province.
The Calgary Fire Department used its entire arsenal to fight the fire, including their brand new CFD Command Unit. The million-dollar truck is equipped with extensive communication capabilities, allowing fire officials to call up video from the Global 1 helicopter that was being live-streamed on Global Calgary’s website. The eye-in-the-sky vantage aided in the tactical deployment of vehicles during the fire fight.
Watch: Time lapse video of the fire – 45 minutes in to one minute.
Calgarians were quick to spread the news on Twitter.
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