Peace River firefighters respond to the grass fire west of Misery Mountain on Saturday (photo courtesy of Peace River Fire Department)

By Liam Verster

Four grass fires in one evening

Peace River Firefighters respond to four grass fires on Saturday

Apr 26, 2021 | 7:15 AM

On Saturday, April 24, after a day of hazard reduction burning in the Peace River area, fire crews were called to four separate, unrelated grass fires.

The fire department received it’s first report of a grass fire in the County of Northern Lights at around 4 p.m. Crews arrived on the scene, where they discovered sparks from a power distribution transformer had started the fire, and the blaze was extinguished.

At 5:15 p.m., the firefighters were called out again, this time to a grass fire near 80 St. in the Westbrook area of Peace River west of Misery Mountain. It took the firefighters two hours to extinguish the fire and get the trucks back in service.

At 7:50 p.m., firefighters were called out to the third grass fire of the night, this time located near 98 St. in Peace River, just south of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

After extinguishing that blaze, and returning to the fire hall, crews were called out to the final fire of the night at 10:50 p.m. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 101 St. in the south end of Peace River and began extinguishing the blaze. That final fire of the night was put out at around 12:30 a.m.

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The Peace River Fire Department says while the first fire was caused by sparks from the transformer, the other three appear to be caused by human influence.

The fire department says the grass is very dry, and people need to be cautious when outside. The department reminds the public that off-highway vehicle use is not permitted on public lands or roadways, smoking materials should be completely extinguished and disposed of safely, and the use of fireworks is prohibited in the town.

The fire department says there were reports of fireworks going off between 10 and 10:15 p.m. Saturday night in the area where the final fire started, and asks that anyone with information related to that, or any other fire, report it to the Fire Chief at 780-624-2993 or the RCMP at 780-624-6677.