Fast moving grass fire impacts three homes east of Airdrie

Dozens of Sharp Hill residents displaced Brad MacLeod reports from the community between Calgary and Airdrie where Tuesday’s fire claimed two dogs and prompted the evacuation of homes.

Dozens of homes were evacuated in the Sharp Hill area, southeast of Airdrie, after a wildfire swept through on Tuesday afternoon and officials say one home was completely destroyed.

Emergency officials issued an evacuation order after a fire broke out east of Highway 2, near the Balzac weigh scales, at about 4:15 P.M. The fire was fuelled by extremely high winds and quickly spread to surrounding areas.

“We had to evacuate that entire neighbourhood in fairly short order, with the winds that were blowing and the dry conditions, the fire moved really fast and we had to evacuate all those individuals,” said RCMP Corporal Curtis Peters.

One home sustained significant damage and two others were also impacted by the blaze. Crews worked to get the fire under control amid the difficult, windy conditions.

"A total of three homes were impacted. One home, unfortunately, is completely lost and another was fairly significantly lost. A third suffered a loss of some outbuildings. Fortunately no one was injured in any of these and we're working with these people to see how to move forward."

About 60 people were evacuated to Genesis Place and officials say the fire grew to about 20 hectares in size.

“It started to spread; within about two minutes it had spread about 50 feet and, in the meantime, I wasn’t getting any action on 911 so my son Kevin came by and I said, ‘you might want to run into the fire hall in Airdrie and notify them because this fire is going to spread real fast.’ Within about five minutes it had reached the houses in Sharp Hill,” said Jerry Anderson, who lives in the Balzac area.

Ben Turcotte had just arrived home from school when he heard there was a fire in a field near his home.

"I come outside and the whole field was on fire. There was a guy out there with a Bobcat trying to put it out. Everybody was trying to help each other out. The fire department showed up from Crossfield and everywhere and they all start evacuating people; coming door to door," he said. "From what I saw, there was one home burning and i heard a couple of other fires start up too around it. The whole field behind me was all burned."

Steve Hagel said he was shocked at how close the flames got to his property.

"It was kind of a battle to get home with all the vehicles and police weren't letting people in. Fortunately, they let us by because we had animals in the house."

He says his neighbours helped with the situation, dousing a number of the fires with a garden hose. "It's awesome how people come together in a crisis, you know?"

Hagel says the wind changed direction at just the right time to save his home.

"A gust of wind came and changed direction and it put the upper part of the trees and the caraganas out and then we just had to deal with the embers and the fire below."

The wildfire was contained by the evening and residents were allowed to return to their homes around midnight.

The Airdrie Fire Prevention Bureau is investigating the cause of the fire.