Fallen tree hits power line and sparks fire. Quick response from fire department and forestry crews keeps blaze under control.
Lac La Biche fired department crews were fast to act on a fire reported on a rural subdivision just west of Lac La Biche this afternoon.
The fire started when strong winds knocked a tree onto a power line, and a spark ignited the dry grass and brush.
The fire was just a few hundred metres from three homes alongside the rural road approximately five kilometres from Lac La Biche.
A wildfire crew and a water truck from Alberta Forestry who picked up the radio call as municipal fire crews dashed to the scene was also at the scene. They were waiting outside their yellow transport bus as Lac La Biche fire department crews and power line crews worked on the fire that was contained to a utility cutline.
"I just got off the fire in Fort Mac three days ago," said one of the firefighters who is originally from Calgary. "Not much of a rest."
Alberta Forestry helicopters flew over the scene several times, but were not needed as fire crews snuffed the flames.
Power was disrupted for a short time to the neighbourhood that is near the back-side of the Lac La Biche Shooting Range. Fortis crews did not have a time estimate for when power would be restored.
