Fires ravage southern Alberta
By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor
Photo Courtesy of Allen MacLennan
On Oct. 17, several communities across southern Alberta were affected by severe, rapidly moving wildfires coupled with extremely high winds.
Gleichen and Carseland were among 10 communities facing evacuations in six counties and municipal districts.
While 130 firefighters from Wheatland County, Siksika, Strathmore, the County of Newell and the County of Rocky View jumped into their fire trucks at 4:30 p.m., numerous farmers also used their equipment to build fire breaks, while public works and volunteers created and manned reception centres in Strathmore and the Village of Standard.
The events resulted in the devastation of two farms – one in each Carseland and Gleichen – loss of livestock, and a number of missing pets. There was no loss of life or serious injuries reported in Wheatland County.
“We are thankful for our mutual aid partners and I think when we have no loss of life that’s a win for us,” said Judy Unsworth, fire and emergency management coordinator with Wheatland County.
“There was a loss of property and I feel terrible about that. In no way do I want to demean people’s loss and I know how devastating that is. It’s one of our tactical priorities: people, property and environment. We’re always sad to see that happen; at the same time, I’m very thankful we lost no lives – either firefighters or residents.”
With confirmed winds of 98 km/h causing flames to reach six feet high, the grass fire in Gleichen posed some challenges for farmers and firefighters when building fire-breaks. A sudden change in wind direction, coming from the north after it was moving aggressively east, also caught residents by surprise.
Wheatland County Deputy Fire Chief Mac de Beaudrap was on his way to fight the grass fire when he single-handedly saved the lives of numerous residents from their homes. Similar stories quickly emerged about firefighters from other departments who loaded residents into fire trucks and brought them to safety. Members of the community in Gleichen also helped dig trenches around buildings to keep the flames at bay. The RCMP, firefighters, peace officers and citizens worked together to ensure evacuations were carried out and everyone was brought to safety. At 1:30 a.m. the fires were deemed under control.
“I’ve been in the business for 20 years and for Wheatland County specifically this is the most significant fire event they had in their recent history,” said Unsworth.
“It started late in the day, so really early on in this event we were working in the dark. So, the perception was there was lots of things burning because everywhere you looked there was fire. In the clear light of day the fires certainly encroached in on Gleichen and certainly burned in between homes, but we were very lucky and managed to keep it from burning homes.”
Southern Alberta received reports of grass fires in Redcliff, Gleichen, Fort Macleod, Oyen, Airdrie and Crowsnest Pass on Oct. 17. Gleichen RCMP received a report that stated the fire was south of Highway 901 on the Siksika First Nation where it moved quickly northeast. Roughly 400 residents of Sikiska and Gleichen were evacuated to reception centres at the Strathmore Civic Centre and the Standard Community Hall.
According to the Strathmore Fire Department, an emergency operation centre was also established at the Strathmore Fire Hall. While the investigation is ongoing, Strathmore Fire Chief Trent West said he wouldn’t be surprised if a train contributed to the spread of the fire.
“We’re not doing the investigation, but from my experience, based on the depth and breadth and width of the fire, I’ve only ever seen them a handful of times before, and they were always (caused by) a train,” said West, who added that four emergency vehicles were active in the area including 10 Strathmore firefighters.
“From east of Gleichen to south of Langdon, there’s nothing else that has that kind of interconnectivity than the train line. I fought a number of fires and they were always that wide and that long because it takes that long for the train to be stopped.”
According to an RCMP report, three rail cars on the CP rail line near the Carseland Agrium plant – located near Highway 901 and Range Road 264 – caught fire and spread to surrounding dry grass. Overall, nearly 1,200 citizens were evacuated from Carseland, Speargrass and the Wheatland County area.
While Unsworth couldn’t confirm what caused the fire in Carseland, she said there were two rail cars on fire in Gleichen and in Carseland. Furthermore, she mentioned a number of power lines were brought down by trees, which in turn sparked fires.
While the fires were under control in the early morning of Oct. 18, fire crews remained on scene to tackle hotspots, and to monitor affected buildings and incidents in pastures. Later that day, Gleichen RCMP contacted Wheatland County about an out-of-control grass fire making its way towards Gleichen from Arrowwood. As a precaution, the county notified residents of a possible evacuation through an information alert. Shortly afterward, the county was informed that the fire was under control and no threat to the area.
Fire crews responded non-stop from Oct. 17 until Oct. 22.
The incidents are under investigation by the Alberta Fire Commission to determine cause.