Residents in rural area in southwest Alberta ordered to leave homes due to fire

“They wouldn’t let us cross the road because the smoke was so bad,” said Cigan. (Photo: Image Editor/Flickr)

NANTON, Alta.— Helicopters rescued several workers Wednesday as residents were ordered to leave their homes because of a wind-whipped wildfire burning in southwestern Alberta.

Two other grass fires one at Canadian Forces Base Suffield and one between Redcliff and Medicine Hat were quickly brought under control.

The mandatory evacuation order was issued in the afternoon and continued late into the evening for areas along Chimney Rock Road, west of Highway 22, between highways 520 and 533 in the Municipal District of Ranchland.

“Certainly we’re expected to work through the night here,” said Travis Fairweather, wildfire information officer. “We have more crews expected to arrive overnight and in the morning to relieve those crews. We’re prepared for as long as it takes.”

The government said the 12-square-kilometre fire was being fuelled by high winds and heavy smoke in the area was affecting visibility and creating hazardous road conditions. It was being fought by 39 firefighting personnel and seven helicopters.

Highway 22 was closed to public travel between highways 533 and 3.

A spokeswoman at the MD office said it wasn’t known how many people were affected, but she noted there are only about 100 people in the district.

Several workers were doing an excavation and trenching project for the installation of gas and electrical lines on Wednesday morning when RCMP notified them of the impending danger.

“We were originally told to just hang back and just wait it out and see how it goes and if they don’t come back in 30 minutes they advised us to leave,” Mike Cigan told CTV. “We took it upon ourselves to try and leave.”

But officers turned them around.

“They wouldn’t let us cross the road because the smoke was so bad,” said Cigan.

“We were helicoptered out. We were forced to stand back and remove ourselves from the job site and leave our equipment behind and all our tools.”

Cigan said that, as far as he could tell, the fire’s damage had been limited to areas of grass.

“There’s the odd home that’s spread out here and there but I don’t believe any of them are on fire.”

Wayne Ritchie’s property is out of harm’s way but the rancher arrived with an empty trailer to see what he could do to help.

“We’ve all been on pins and needles about this all summer and when you hear there’s a fire you come down and see what you can do to help,” said Ritchie.

“Just about everybody that owns land down there I’ve helped out in some form of fashion. They’re all trying to wean calves and get cows out of the hills. It’s kind of a dangerous time. Cattle are concentrated near the hills.”

Ritchie encountered a roadblock along Highway 22 and the rancher’s effort to assist was halted.

“I got turned around here. Obviously the RCMP are trying to minimize chaos.”

At CFB Suffield, Natalie Finnemore, the base public affairs officer, told radio station CHAT that a blaze that broke out in the northwest corner of the military facility was contained with the help of firefighters from Jenner, Cypress County, and Box Springs, as well as a tanker truck from Medicine Hat.

She said there were no military operations underway in the area at the time.

The Redcliff fire was first spotted about 6:30 p.m. and was brought under control by crews who will remain on scene to put out hot spots.