Firefighters first responders heralded for snuffing blazes

By Lethbridge Herald on March 29, 2021.

Herald photo by Dale Woodard The sky to the west of the village of Carmangay is black from a wildfire that started northeast of Claresholm Sunday afternoon. Residents of Carmangay were briefly evacuated, but allowed to return to their homes in the evening once the fire was brought under control.

Tim Kalinowski
Lethbridge Herald
tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com
After a day of chaos and destruction when two large wildfires tore through the region, the MD of Willow Creek is giving thanks to local firefighters and other first responders who attacked the wind-driven blazes with determination and skillful planning.
“Our first responders did an amazing job,” said Derrick Krizsan, CAO of the MD of Willow Creek. “The observation I received from our chief and our planning section head, Craig Pitman, who went up in the helicopter last night, the comment was: ‘If not for the manner in which the fire was attacked, and the control was undertaken on that fire, there would have been considerable more loss.’”
Krizsan said fire departments from Claresholm, Stavely, Fort Macleod, Nanton and Granum battled the fires for over 12 hours with assistance from the fire departments of Vulcan County, Foothills County and Lethbridge County. Alberta Forestry also provided two fire engines and a helicopter to help get a handle on the massive 6,500 hectare fire.
Local RCMP detachments also lent strong support to the effort, said Krizsan.
Krizsan gave special credit to the citizens who came out to provide support to help bring the fire under control and to try to deal with the effects of the damage.
“The most important resources that were provided were provided from our citizens, who turned out with truckloads full of water, discs, and tractors,” he explained.
“And those who went and sought out their neighbours and assisted in housing them if they had been evacuated, and assisted in moving livestock and housing livestock– certainly it was a tremendous community effort yesterday.”
Krizsan confirmed at least four homes, and possibly more, were lost in the blaze as well as numerous farm outbuildings, and miles upon miles of fencing.
“Most of the damages occurred to infrastructure: private farm buildings, private farm dwellings, fences, and that type of infrastructure,” he said. “Certainly, these types of events are significant for the landowners, and the cost will be significant to recover from this.”
Krizsan said there have so far been no reports of fatalities as a result of the fire, and no missing person reports have been filed; although investigations are still ongoing.
He confirmed eight people in the region were treated for smoke inhalation by AHS at the scene and released, and two were transported to hospital and have since been released.
Krizsan also stated one person had been taken to Calgary with “severe injuries,” and that person’s condition is unknown at this time.
Krizsan said he has no confirmed numbers on how many livestock might have perished in the blaze.
“We are not certain of the numbers, but I do know landowners throughout the area were actively engaged in moving those livestock in front of the fire,” he explained. “I am not sure of those numbers, but as part of the emergency plan the Town of Claresholm had assistance in establishing the Agriplex in Claresholm as an evacuation centre for livestock. As well, the local veterinary clinic in Claresholm had indicated they were on call to address any injured livestock.”
Besides the immediate impact of the fires, Krizsan said the high winds and dense smoke also caused additional havoc with five motor vehicle collisions recorded due to poor visibility and several tractor trailers blown over on the highway temporarily blocking all traffic on Hwy. 2.
“It was a day of extraordinary events,” Krizsan stated simply.
He said the cause of both fires remains under investigation at this time as local firefighters continue to travel through the fire zone putting out hotspots. That report should be out soon, Krizsan confirmed.
Krizsan predicted whatever the cause turns out to be the recovery effort from the fire would be a long and difficult one for both the MD of Willow Creek and for local residents who have been directly affected by the blaze.
“When a fire burns 6,500 hectares of farmland in the heart of a municipality, there is going to be some substantial impacts on people and their lives,” he stated.
“The fire is out,” Jason Schneider, reeve of the County of Vulcan, said Monday. “They were able to stop the fire about seven miles out of town and, in the end, it was just kind of a precautionary evacuation and everything was fine and they were able to go home.
“With that wind, it was about 93 kilometres an hour, we knew there wasn’t much stopping it unless we got lucky.”
Schneider said the wind shifted toward a lake and a large fireguard was created that was able to hold it. The arrival of snow six hours later was a blessing, he said, because it put out any smouldering hot spots.
In a separate incident on Sunday, the Blood Tribe also experienced a substantial grass fire which burned along a 28 km front east to west and 6 km north to south on the First Nation.
The fire burned to within about 10 km west of the Lethbridge Airport and directly south of the city, according to Lethbridge fire officials, but did not cross the river there.
The Blood Tribe is confirming 15 homes were evacuated, but it was unknown as of press time on Monday if any of these homes were ultimately lost in the blaze.
Under a mutual aid agreement with the Blood Tribe, fire departments from Raymond, Coaldale and Magrath responded to the fire. The Blood Tribe also credited Blood Tribe Public Works and several Hutterite colonies and local farmers for their assistance.
— With files from CP
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