A combine is suspected to be the cause of a grass fire that expanded to near 80 hectares in size, threatening homes in Carriage Lane, a southern neighbourhood in Carstairs, Alta. but the cause is still under investigation.
The Carstairs Fire Department was called at around 1 p.m. to a smaller grass fire on Friday.
“During this time, a second fire 300 metres to the west started up and this is where (the first) fire was contained,” CFD Chief Jordan Schaffer told Global News. “It did come in and started threatening the town of Carstairs.
“With the help of the RCMP, we started evacuating houses. Everybody from the south end of Carstairs was evacuated.”
Schaffer confirmed 45 homes were evacuated and two water well shacks were lost in the fire.
The evacuation order has now been lifted and all homeowners are now allowed back, the RCMP said Friday afternoon. Crews are still on scene and there are no other fires in the neighbourhood.
Schaffer said taking part in the fire suppression efforts were fire crews from nearby communities, including Airdrie, Olds, Didsbury and Cremona. There were 25 fire trucks and 50 crew members helping in south Carstairs.
“It was nicking the fence line of many homes,” the Carstairs fire chief said. “We did deploy a ladder truck to prepare for any major suppression to come, but the crews did a great job and they were able to contain it away from all the homes.”
RCMP said there is a fire east of Carstairs but it’s too far away to be connected to the one in Carriage Lane.
Schaffer said the Didsbury Fire Department was leading that firefighting effort while Carstairs’ fire teams were working the southern fire.
Airdrie Fire Department deputy chief Garth Rabel told Global News the fire east of Carstairs was under control by the late afternoon.
“The fires were significant enough that we were requested by our partners in Mountain View County,” Rabel said.
Rabel said the Airdrie Fire Department sent two “bush buggies” to the area.
“Those are specially designed for fighting wildland fire,” he said.
A tweet by 511 Alberta at 2:54 p.m. warned motorists of reduced visibility on the QEII near Carstairs because of smoke in the area.
Much of Mountain View County, which Carstairs sits in the south of, is not currently under a fire ban, restriction or advisory. Counties to the south and east are under fire bans and to the north are under a fire restriction.
But the hot, dry forecast weekend ahead creates ideal conditions for a spark to grow into something more.
“Stay away from the fireworks, the exploding targets, keep your fire pits closed – get those cages on top there,” Shaffer said.
“Do everything you can to help us out, because it’s going to be a long weekend for all of us.”
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