North Battleford nearly had a major disaster on its hands as a major grassfire raged west of the city Wednesday afternoon.
The blaze, which mainly affected the fields northwest of Territorial Drive, blanketed the city with smoke in the early afternoon and at one point threatened homes in the Killdeer area, as high winds kicked up the fire and smoke. Some homes in the Killdeer neighbourhood were evacuated at one point.
The fire erupted over the noon hour in a field west of Territorial Drive, between Railway Avenue and the Killdeer neighbourhood.
The fire quickly spread with thick smoke engulfing the surrounding neighbourhoods. At the height of the fire, Territorial Drive was blocked off to traffic from 95th Street to Railway Avenue. Local residents were told to stay away from the heavy smoke and to close the windows to avoid breathing problems.
A couple of fires also jumped Territorial Drive onto Foley and Abbott Drive, but those were brought under control. According to Deputy Chief Kevin Steinborn a deck at one of the homes on Foley Drive ignited and a pumper was brought in to douse it.
An abandoned barn in the northwest corner of the area was destroyed. No other structural damage was reported, although at least one eyewitness who lives in the area said his home is permeated with smoke odour.
Firefighters were successful in hosing down the immediate area in front of several homes.
It was a frightening situation for firefighters because of the high winds that were kicking up the flames from the grassland.
"When we pulled up on scene, the first thing that crossed out minds was the Slave Lake situation," said Steinborn, referring to the disaster earlier this year where a large portion of the Alberta city was destroyed by a raging forest fire that high winds blew through the community.
The first order of business for the fire department was to the property, Steinborn said, and then they were able to move to fight the fire.
It was difficult conditions for firefighters at first due to the size of the fire.
"Visibility was zero in a lot of the areas," Steinborn said.
By 2:30 p.m. the situation in the Killdeer area was deemed under control, according to Fire Chief Pat MacIsaac.
"We had an awfully large area to the west of Killdeer, a couple of fields that burnt," said MacIsaac to reporters at the scene.
He acknowledged the fire had spread rapidly due to the wind and was changing direction, he said, making it difficult to deal with as well.
Battlefords RCMP had lifted their evacuation-advisory order by mid-afternoon and people could return to homes in the area. Fire crews remained on the scene, however, working on dousing several remaining hotspots.
Steinborn said most of their crews were back at the fire hall by 5 p.m. However, they continue to check up on the scene to put out any hot spots and the pasture land could still smolder in the ground for a number of days.
The fire brought out the full resources of the North Battleford fire department. The entire department was called to the scene, along with fire crews and three units from the Town of Battleford and a water tanker from the RM of Battle River. The RCMP were called in to help close off the area and direct traffic. WPD Ambulance was on the scene as well.
MacIsaac said some graders were also brought in, while G and C Asphalt provided a water tanker. The fire department says it is grateful to the public for their assistance. One volunteer brought bottles of Gatorade and dropped it off at the command post, and several passers-by offered their assistance.
At the moment, the cause of the fire is undetermined. It remains under investigation.
Wednesday turned out to be a fire-filled day across the province. A major fire erupted in a barn in Radisson and threatened homes in the community around the same time. Several cars were among the property that burned.
NBFES Fire was called to yet another fire around 6:30 p.m. in the RM of Douglas off of Highway 378. One apparatus and four personnel were called to a bush fire that affected approximately 20 acres of land. According to the owner, that fire may have been started by a hot muffler.
Firefighters were also called to the scene of yet another fire behind the North Battleford sewage treatment plant Thursday morning.
Fire officials are urging people to refrain from outdoor burning at the moment, as conditions are extremely dry.
