ARDMORE – Reports of a possible grassfire near the Ardmore Transfer Station on the evening of Aug. 14 had crews from Station 7 Fort Kent and Station 8 Ardmore dispatched to the scene at 8:10 p.m.
“On arrival, crews discovered a small fire in the burn cell of the site that had no risk of spreading offsite,” Regional Fire Chief Dan Heney told Lakeland This Week.
Crews remained on site until MD of Bonnyville staff attended the scene to remediate the burn cell.
A video taken from an adjacent highway to the Ardmore Transfer Station sent to Lakeland This Week showed a bright glow of a fire still burning above treetops with fire apparatuses still on scene around 10:30 p.m. on Monday night.
MD administration confirmed that the fire that took place in the Ardmore burn cell Monday evening was not a planned burn. It remains unclear as to how the fire was started.
“Someone thought it was a grass fire and it’s a good thing they phoned in,” said Reeve Barry Kalinski. “We don't mind people phoning in because there's enough fires in Alberta right now.”
A landfill burn cell is a container where waste wood that has been dropped off at the transfer site is burned.
“By burning waste wood products, either construction or vegetation management, they are minimizing the space required to house waste products,” explained the fire chief.
