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By Shane Clausing
Multiple Fires

County Regional Fire Service responds to multiple fires since Sunday

Feb 9, 2021 | 6:14 PM

The County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service says it has dispatched crews to multiple structure fires over the last 48 hours amid the ongoing deep freeze gripping the province.

On the morning of February 7, crews responded to a shop on fire northeast of Teepee Creek. Crews were able to extinguish the fire and prevent further spread. Nobody was injured and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

With wind chill at times bringing temperature to around minus 50, fighting the fire in those temperatures was not an easy task.

“The severely cold weather during this event presented challenges to personnel,” said Bart Johnson, Deputy Fire Chief of Operations.

“Generally, our water tenders stage on the road by the fire and are called in to offload their tank as needed. In this instance, the trucks were freezing up, so they were staged in the Teepee Creek Fire Station and the shop at Matco Industries to keep warm and be close by when they were needed.

“We are very grateful for the support from Matco Industries.”

On Monday, February 8, fire crews were called to a chimney fire on 101 Avenue in Clairmont. Firefighters were able to contain the chimney fire and prevented it from spreading to the rest of the home. Nobody was injured.

Then on Tuesday, fire crews were called to assist the Grovedale Fire Department, who were responding to a chimney fire. Nobody was hurt.

Later in the day, the County Regional Fire Service also responded to a mobile home fire west of Sexsmith.

This blaze, fire crews say, was caused after the mobile home resident attempted to thaw the waterlines underneath his house with a torch. Crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire and limited damage to the home. Nobody was harmed.

With that, Regional Fire Service reminds residents to practise the following safety measures:

  • Ensure chimneys are kept clean, the wood burned is dry and seasoned and the amount of wood used is within the manufacturer specifications.
  • Do not use devices with open flames such as torches to thaw frozen water lines. The use of gas and electric heaters as well as heat guns, portable heating devices with no open flame can be used for safer outcomes.
  • If a fire does occur always immediately call 911.

Deputy Fire Chief Jason Nesbitt adds that the extreme cold weather we are experiencing right now presents its challenges, especially in response times, which is why he stresses to call 911 right away in the event of a fire.

“During the cold, especially in response areas manned by volunteers, response times may be longer as it takes more time to get their personal vehicle running and safely thawed to respond to the fire station,” said Nesbitt.

“This is exasperated in cases of extreme weather that we are currently experiencing. The earlier the notification, the more efficient the response.”

by Shane Clausing