Cypress County grassfire takes hours Wednesday to put out

By Gillian Slade on September 29, 2017.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com  @MHNGillianSlade

A grassfire in Cypress County took hours to extinguish on Wednesday evening.

The fire was near the intersection of Hwy 41 N and Range Road 33, almost half way to Schuler, said John McBain deputy fire chief Cypress County.

The cause is undetermined at this stage but it started at the edge of the highway, said McBain. An investigation is ongoing but possible causes include a cigarette or sparks from a vehicle.

“It burned approximately a mile long by 200 to 300 metres wide,” said McBain.

Someone driving on Hwy 41 saw the fire and called in about 5:30 p.m. Firefighters finally extinguished all the hot spots by 9 p.m.

Lots of smoking cow turds can remain hot for a long time.

“Oh, they burn forever,” said McBain.

One of the challenges in fighting a fire like this is gaining access to the area that is burning.

“The access on that one was a little off due to the terrain. There was some, a couple, ditches and some bigger hills that we had to manoeuvre around but for the most part it wasn’t too bad,” said McBain.

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