Raging Fire Burns in Crowsnest Pass
Posted Oct 19, 2012 3:58 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Twenty provincial government firefighters are on a five-hectare scene near the Crowsnest Pass weigh station where a grass fire is burning out of control.
They’re accompanied by two firetrucks, one helicopter along with the Crowsnest Pass and Pincher Creek fire departments.
Wildfire Information Officer Geoffrey Driscoll, with Alberta Environment and
Sustainable Resources Development, says RCMP have had to evacuate some houses in the area.
“With 50 kilometre winds in the grass these fires get really big really fast,” he says.
“It moves quite quickly so that makes it harder for firefighters to fight it.”
That said, Driscoll adds there’s a lot of equipment and firefighters on hand doing their best to try and put the flames out as quickly as possible.
He notes there’s a tremendous amount of smoke wafting and the fire is about 200 metres away from the nearest house and winds are blowing at 50 kilometres out of the west.
The nearest houses are north of the fire, so the fire isn’t burning toward those houses.
Driscoll explains it’s too early to estimate how long the firefighting efforts will take to douse the fire – as every fire is different – and speedy winds which fuel the flames can be unpredictable.
