Fully-engulfed cooling tower, lightning-sparked wildfires keep firefighters busy this long weekend

A fire destroyed a cooling tower near the Anthony Henday, east of Edmonton, over the long weekend — one of several blazes keeping the province’s fire crews occupied.

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services were called to the fire near Hayter Road Monday shortly before midnight.

Crews arrived around 12:04 a.m. Tuesday to find the large industrial cooling tower engulfed in flames.

EFRS let the fire burn itself out, deeming it under control by 6:17 a.m.

There were no reported injuries. Fire investigators are working to determine a cause.

Meanwhile firefighters were also working hard to put out another industrial fire involving a gas metering station near Hinton, west of Edmonton. Alberta Wildfire says the fire is currently under control and adds no direct damage with nearby pipelines was reported.

28 lightning fires in 4 days

It was a busy long weekend for firefighters across the province, with lightning causing a large number of fires in the north due to the dry conditions.

“We did have 49 new starts between June 29 and July 2,” said Melissa Story with Alberta Wildfire. “Twenty-eight of them were caused by lightning, so that’s over half. Lightning wildfires are nice because we can track weather patterns, so we can anticipate what kind of areas they’re going to be in.”

And with hot, dry weather in the forecast, fire officials are anticipating an increase in activity. Story says it’s important for Albertans to be mindful when doing activities outdoors, especially if there is a heightened fire risk.

“July is obviously the kickoff to the camping season here in Alberta. We know it is short-lived, but we would encourage anyone, if you are having a campfire, make sure it is completely extinguished before you leave,” the Alberta Wildfire information officer said.

–With files from Laura Krause