Athabasca County firefighters are still working on getting an April 14 fire extinguished after they deemed it held at 5 p.m. Sunday night.
At approximately 12:15 p.m., fire crews were alerted to a wildfire near Canoe Lake, about six kilometres east of Colinton, and 13 kilometres southeast of the Town of Athabasca.
With winds from the southwest, the fire grew to approximately 300 acres, or 121 hectares within the next few hours, before multiple fire departments and residents were able to stop its spread.
A number of farm structures and outbuildings in the area were lost in the fire, but due to the efforts of the crews no homes burnt down — no injuries were reported as of Sunday evening.
Athabasca County Fire Services chief Travis Shalapay was unavailable for comment as he was in the field, but a county spokesperson said mop-up crews were working on hot spots and overall extinguishment in the area.
Heavy equipment and water tankers are still working in the area, and smoke may still be visible as of the morning of April 15.
More to come…
