Early indications suggest Tuesday fire caused by “improperly disposed smoking materials”

“If you’re throwing your cigarette butt out the window thinking it’s dry… you should know it’s dry! It’s not wet. If you touch the ground, it might feel wet on the ground, but the actual grass and that fuel load is very, very dry. The wind is drying it out.”

Three of Lethbridge’s fire stations worked on the scene starting at around 3:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

“We knew that it was a large fire. We didn’t want it to jump the river or extend any further north or south,” Rathwell stated.

He said mutual aid was provided by Coalhurst and Coaldale crews by way of wildland trucks.

He said Tollestrup Construction provided a bulldozer in case crews had to build a fire-line, as well as water tenders.

“The other piece that we called in, which is a little unusual for us, is we brought in some resources from ag and forestry, and that was the helicopter that everybody saw bucketing water onto the fire,” he said, noting the helicopter came out of the Calgary area to provide assistance.

The helicopter responding to the fire in Lethbridge (Photo courtesy of Alex Sim)

He said the famous Lethbridge wind died for a short time, which helped out crews on-scene.

“Our crews were establishing that line right at the north end of where the fire was. They were very concerned that it would jump across the highway and continue on its way north. They were able to make a great stop there while the wind died down,” he said.

Rathwell did remind residents to enjoy the river bottom and the various paths found in the coulees. He said it is important to practice proper social distancing, though, and to always be cautious of cleaning up after oneself.

FIRE BAN

A fire ban is in effect for the area.

“Part of that fire ban, at first…was about making sure people weren’t gathering in locations and we weren’t having common touch-points,” he said.

“the secondary piece to it, is it’s tinder-dry folks. We know this, we’ve dealt with these fires for how many years? People have to recognize that.”

Rathwell added that many residents were around the area watching the emergency response, but it’s important to remember that crews need space to safely deal with any situation, like a large fire. He added that citizens can put themselves in danger if they get too close to an emergency scene.

He reported no major damages to nearby golf courses or animal habitats, and no injuries from the scene – either to humans or any of the animals in the area.

SQUATTERS

Rathwell addressed reports of people “tenting” or “squatting” in the river bottom.

“We’re still working on the encampment issue,” he said.

“That piece is an ongoing piece that we’ve been monitoring, and we’re trying to take those down as fast as we can and where appropriately to take them down.”

He said they’ve been made aware of a number of citizens taking up shelter in the area.

“We’re trying to get out to those folks and see what their needs are and how we can help them and how better we can place them, so that they’re not building these sort of structured and encampments in areas where we can’t support them appropriately.”

by Justin Goulet

Early indications suggest Tuesday fire caused by “improperly disposed smoking materials”

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