Couple feared for house after crop caught fire
A 19-year-old Edmontonian has been charged with mischief over $5,000 after a driver plowed through a barley field, setting it on fire in rural Strathcona County, say RCMP.
Strathcona County Emergency Services and RCMP responded to a vehicle and field fire near Highway 21 and Township Road 532 around 1:40 a.m. on Sept. 7.
When crews arrived, they found a GMC Envoy engulfed in flames on the service road adjacent to the burning field.
Police said a man was arrested at the scene.
“It was determined that the field and vehicle caught fire as a result of the vehicle driving through a dry field,” said Strathcona County RCMP Const. Chantelle Kelly.
Crews battled several hours to contain the blaze, preventing it from crossing the service road before they were able to finally extinguish it.
Both the vehicle and the crop were destroyed, but no other damage was sustained, much to the relief of property owners Marina Young and Floyd Young.
“A lot of our land got scorched — I was so worried that it was going to jump over the crop and burn the house,” Marina Young said, adding that she was raised on the property.
“When you looked out there, the fire was an angry red and yellow, and it was heading right for us.
“It was wicked to see those flames just dancing in the night.”
Floyd Young recalled the same feeling, noting that the couple awoke to responders banging on the door.
“We were sound asleep at 2 a.m., and they couldn’t wake us up with the doorbell, so they were banging at the door to get us out of there,” he said.
“They told us to grab all of our valuables that we wanted to save — we thought the house was going to go with it.”
All told, between 100 and 120 acres of the 200-acre barely crop burned in the fire, he said, adding that developers involved in the area’s Bremner project have an option on the land.
His wife added that the couple can’t thank emergency crews enough.
“If you’re going to praise anybody, praise those firefighters — they did a super job,” she said.