A Cypress County firefighter was killed Tuesday night as he worked to fight a wildfire that started near Hilda, Alta., which is about 375 kilometres southeast of Calgary.
James Hargrave, 34, worked with the local volunteer firefighting crew.
“He was a very, very strong person in our community,” said Alberta MLA Drew Barnes.
“He was a pillar of the ranching community, a strong family and community person.”
After the Hilda fire moved into Saskatchewan, Cypress County firefighters followed to assist efforts to protect Leader and Burstall in the neighbouring province.
During those efforts, Hargrave was driving a water truck when it collided with a pickup truck. He died at the scene.
Hargrave was from Walsh, Alta.
My heart breaks for the family of James Hargrave, a well respected young Alberta rancher. I count myself lucky to have met him. #RIP pic.twitter.com/MDPqZOntRw
The fire burning near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border was one of almost a dozen that crews battled through the night as a string of wind-swept wildfires forced hundreds of people to flee their homes.
Officials issued numerous evacuation orders late Tuesday in communities that were in the path of the flames, which were whipped by gusts up to 110 km/h in some areas.
Fires were burning from the Foothills in the west to the Saskatchewan border in the east.
Evacuations were ordered in Airdrie, north of Calgary, as well as Coleman, in Alberta’s southwest corner, and in Wheatland County, east of Calgary, the M.D. Willow Creek, just west of Lethbridge, and in Cypress County and the M.D. of Acadia on Alberta’s eastern edge, where the flames raged on both sides of the Saskatchewan border.
A wildfire burning near Coleman, Alta., on Tuesday. Residents were evacuated from the western edge of the community. (Robb Powell)
There were 10 fires affecting 11 communities and about 500 people were forced to leave their homes, according to Scott Long, the head of operations for the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
Four local states of emergency remain in effect:
- Medicine Hat.
- Wheatland County.
- The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.
- The Municipal District of Acadia.
Many of the evacuation orders were lifted Wednesday morning after the winds subsided and rain doused the flames in some parts of southern Alberta.
But many residents of the Crowsnest Pass community of Coleman are still waiting in nearby Pincher Creek as crews continue to fight the wildfire threatening their homes.
Here is the latest information on the fires and the evacuations:
Airdrie
The Sharp Hill neighbourhood southeast of Airdrie was placed under a sudden evacuation order Tuesday afternoon as a grass fire whipped up by strong winds raced toward homes. Residents took shelter at Genesis Place, a recreation centre in the city.
Rocky View County officals said one home was destroyed by the fire and another was damaged.
Fire on the way to Airdrie along highway 2. #yyc #abstorm pic.twitter.com/UbIxsOTK3P
“It was scary. I’ve been out here 20 years and I’ve never seen a wind like that, ever,” said Airdrie resident Jerry Anderson.
“When I saw that fire, I thought, yeah, we’re in trouble.”
Sharp Hill residents were allowed to return home late Tuesday night, but those who live in the Stagecoach Trail area were asked to meet with the Rocky View Fire Department at Stagecoach Trail and Township 264 before proceeding.
Coleman
In the Crowsnest Pass area, the Wildfire between the Sentinel Industrial Park and Coleman is still out of control, and Highway 3 west of Coleman remains closed to all traffic. An evacuation order remains in place for parts of Coleman.
Willow Drive, McLaren Ridge, Carbondale Trailer Court, and MacGillivary Flats are evacuated, “and no one should be in these areas,” the Alberta Emergency Management Agency said.
Everyone else in Coleman should be prepared to evacuate on short notice.
A reception centre is open at the Vertical Church in Pincher Creek, located at 1200 Ken Thorton Blvd.
About 150 residents had to leave their homes.
Two barns and two outbuildings were destroyed by fire. The local fish hatchery was also damaged, provincial officials said in a release.
Fire guards were constructed during the night to protect the community of Coleman.
The mayor of Crowsnest Pass, Blair Painter, says the situation is improving now that the wind has died down and helicopters are dropping water on the flames.
He says that so far it doesn’t appear that any homes have been lost.
Painter says it is believed downed power lines caused the fire, which began about a kilometre west of the community.
Gleichen/Siksika/Strathmore
Fires that were threatening communities in Wheatland County, east of Calgary, have been brought under control, officials say. Rain overnight helped to slow the fires.
Residences in and around Gleichen and Carseland were evacuated and a local state of emergency declared as the wildfires closed in. People were allowed to return to their homes on Wednesday after spending the night in emergency shelters in Standard and Strathmore.
One of the fires burning near Gleichen as seen from the highway. (Name withheld by request)
Four homes were destroyed in the hamlet of Gleichen, two more were lost in the hamlet of Stobart, and two others on the Siksika Nation were destroyed, the province said in a release.
Chief Joe Weasel Child says one elder was treated for burns and several other people were taken to hospital with repiratory problems.
Motorists are being urged to be cautious driving through the area on Highway 901 because livestock could be at large after fences were destroyed by fire.
Schools in the area were closed Wednesday.
The wildfire jumped the Bow River, which runs through the Siksika Nation, as it raged through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. (Meghan Grant/CBC)
A second fire, ignited by a train that caught fire near the Agrium Plant, was burning near Highway 910 and Range Road 264.
Hilda/Cypress County
The fire near Hilda, in Cypress County, which claimed the life of one firefighter, forced people to evacuate to Medicine Hat as crews worked to protect the hamlet and surrounding farms and homesteads.
Barnes said it’s believed as many as four homesteads were destroyed by flames.
“I don’t think it’s totally out of control anymore. I think they’ve had some success,” said the MLA, who represents Cypress-Medicine Hat.
The fire was brought under control late Wednesday morning and local authorities were co-ordinating the return of evacuees, the province says.
Lethbridge
A grassfire that prompted officials in Lethbridge to warn residents of Scenic Heights to be ready to leave on short notice has been put out.
The fire was burning in the coulees on the west of the city.
Fire’s out. Scenic Drive S. is reopened. Residents can return home to Scenic Heights and English Oaks. Fire crews will monitor flare ups
M.D. of Willow Creek/Moon River Estates
The wildfire that was threatening the hamlet of Moon River Estates in the M.D. Willow Creek, just west of Lethbridge, is now under control.
The municipal district enacted a mandatory evacuation for the hamlet on Tuesday night, asking residents to go to the reception center at the Fort Macleod Community Centre.
Those residents have since been allowed to return home, the province says.
Acadia Valley
East of Calgary, near the Saskatchewan border, the municipal district of Acadia declared a state of emergency Tuesday evening, telling residents of the hamlet of Acadia Valley to leave immediately “if it is safe to do so.”
That evacuation order has now been lifted and residents are permitted to return home.
Two homes were reported lost in Acadia Valley, the province says.
Highway 41, south of Acadia Valley, remains closed and a local state of emergency remains in effect.
Empress
About 35 kilometres south of Acadia Valley, a fire also threatened the village of Empress at the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. An order to evacuate the area was lifted around 9:30 p.m. MT.
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry deployed 25 wildland firefighters and four helicopters to help local crews fight the fires.
In Saskatchewan, the town of Leader was among the communities being evacuated from the southwestern area of the province due to a fire burning near the provincial border. The town of more than 800 residents declared a local state of emergency.
Evacuations were also ordered in Burstall and Liebenthal, Sask., and in the southern rural municipality of Deerforks.
Motels were jam-packed Tuesday night in the nearby town of Kindersley, as more than 200 people made their way to the town.
Fires were under control near Leader and Burstall and extinguished, in some cases, by Wednesday morning, according to Kindersley’s emergency measures director, Bernie Morton.
The weather system responsible for the gusting winds in Alberta and Saskatchewan has crossed into western Manitoba and is expected to spread east through the day.
Wind gusts of 90 km/h are expected throughout most of the province, and Environment Canada issued wind warnings.