Two Sundre men are charged with four counts of arson after allegedly shooting fireworks from a vehicle south of Longview last week causing five grass fires.
The fires were active on the west side of Highway 22 between 594 Avenue and Chain Lakes, and took roughly four hours for emergency crews to extinguish, according to Turner Valley RCMP Cpl. Tiffany McGregor.
Members of the Municipal District of Foothills fire departments and Turner Valley RCMP responded to the fires around noon on May 1.
Highway 22 was closed from 594 Avenue to Chain Lakes for about four hours.
Dale Christopher Aldrich, 21, and Marc Pierre Boulanger, 24, are each charged with four counts of arson. They appeared before a justice of the peace and bail was set at $5,000 cash deposit. They are scheduled to appear in Turner Valley provincial court on June 3, she said.
“It was from shooting fireworks out the vehicle window into the grass. It's grazing land along the highway there,” explained McGregor, adding there was roughly 110 acres of land burned in total.
“It was about 15 kilometres of highway between those two points and there was a series of grass fires set along the way.”
Permits are required in the Municipal District of Foothills to set off fireworks, she said.
“With the spring here and the dry weather – yesterday it was probably about 20 degrees – I mean a grass fire can start quite easily and this was basically the consequence of what these young men were doing.”
