Volunteer firefighter killed battling grass fire

A volunteer firefighter was killed and two men trying to beat back flames on their property were injured in wind-whipped wildfires that scorched parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan and forced the evacuation of several communities.

Officials with Cypress County in southeastern Alberta confirmed the death of James Hargrave, 34, who was with the Walsh fire station. He was helping to fight a fierce grass fire Tuesday that had been driven into Saskatchewan by winds gusting to 100 km/h.

“He was an awesome fellow. He was very nice, kind and very considerate of the community and the people around him,” said Walsh resident Chris Sauer.

“He ran a big ranch north of Walsh with his wife and four young children. He was just an allaround nice person.”

Rick Friesen from Vauxhall knew Hargrave when the two served together as delegates with the Alberta Beef Producers.

“He was a great young guy. He was friendly, hard-working and a good family man. It’s a shame what happened to him and I feel for his family.”

RCMP said Cypress County firefighters were assisting Saskatchewan crews when there was a crash around midnight involving a water truck and a pickup truck south of Burstall, Sask.

Police said Hargrave was alone in the water truck and died at the scene. The driver of the pickup truck was not badly hurt.

It wasn’t known if fire or smoke in the area were factors in the accident.

The men trying to protect their land near Tompkins, Sask., were seriously injured and had to be transported to hospital in Calgary. The RCMP did not have an update Wednesday on the condition of the two, who are 43 and 27 years old.

On Wednesday evening, provincial officials updated the number of homes lost to 14 — two in Stobart, four in Gleichen, one in Rockyview County, five in Acadia Valley and two on the Siksika First Nation. They said, however, that could go up as further assessments are done.

All but one of the evacuations ordered during the height of the fires had been lifted by Wednesday.

One local state of emergency remained in effect in Alberta in the Crowsnest Pass area of southwestern

Alberta, where 150 people were forced from their homes in Coleman.

While an evacuation order remained in place Wednesday, the mayor of Crowsnest Pass said things had calmed down somewhat.

“The wind has died down. We’ve got helicopters bucketing the area,” Mayor Blair Painter said.

“We were able to divert the fire so it hasn’t affected those areas. I’m hoping we’re able to get those people back just as soon as possible.”

Painter said the blaze was probably caused by downed power lines as a result of strong winds.

Painter said it didn’t appear any homes burned down. Two barns and two outbuildings were confirmed lost to the fire. A fish hatchery also sustained roof damage from the wind.

Alberta Agriculture and Forestry had 25 wildland firefighters supporting local fire departments. Four helicopters were being deployed.