Charge laid after crop scorched

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. 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 extinguish it.

Both the vehicle and the crop were destroyed, but no other damage was sustained.

All told, between 100 and 120 acres of a 200-acre barely crop burned in the fire.