(rdnewsNOW)

By Ian Gustafson

Under Investigation

Crews responded to large grass fire west of QEII

May 6, 2025 | 12:07 PM

Blackfalds Fire & Rescue attended a significant grass fire on Friday afternoon at a property west of the QEII between Red Deer and Blackfalds.

Trevor Wilton, deputy chief of training and prevention, said the blaze got as big as 20-25 hectares.

With assistance from Red Deer County Protective Services, Red Deer Emergency Services, Bentley, and the City of Lacombe, crews were on scene for six and a half hours before extinguishing it.

They were called out shortly after 4 p.m. for the grass fire which involved approximately 20 response units. More specifically, there were 61 firefighters in attendance with 16 suppression trucks, three command units, and one piece of heavy equipment.

“It was pretty windy that day, everything was really dry, and there’s a pretty large section of forested area nearby,” Wilton said.

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“When I first arrived, it was still mostly grass but it spread to the trees. We were pretty quick with mutual aid getting some extra resources so we could get around it. There were some structures that were threatened by the fire that we wanted to get some engines between so we could prevent the spread.”

(rdnewsNOW file photo)

No buildings were caught in the blaze but Wilton said there was some farm equipment that was a part of the fire.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation but Wilton said they do not believe it was suspicious.

“We would encourage people to be aware of the dry conditions,” he said. “Fires grow really fast in these types of conditions so when people see smoke, we encourage them to call 911 as soon as possible.”