No major accidents or fatalities in the area over the July long weekend

The Sundre Fire Department and RCMP detachment reported a fairly average Canada Day long weekend celebration in the immediate area.

Fire Chief Marty Butts told the Round Up the weekend was not plagued or marred by numerous collisions and that there were no fatalities. However, the department's members were busy responding to a number of medical assists, including four such calls to lend EMS a hand on Sunday, July 3.

On Friday, July 1, fire crews attended the scene of a reported structure fire at an abandoned house east of the James River Store.

"It was fully engulfed when we got there," said Butts, adding the Olds Fire Department was called for mutual aid to provide a water tanker. The chief said lightning that night could potentially have been what sparked the blaze.

Sundre firefighters also responded to an outdoor fire on Monday, July 4, but were stood down once it was determined the blaze was a controlled burn. The only other call that day was another medical assist. Saturday, July 2 was a quiet day, and the department responded to a total of seven calls from Friday, July 1 to Monday, July 4. Although it wasn't an overwhelming weekend, the fire chief said it was fairly busy, which was to be expected because of the long weekend.

The Sundre RCMP detachment's Cpl. Joe Mandel also said there were no major issues or fatalities over the Canada Day weekend.

"It went off pretty well," he said, adding police were actively patrolling the West Country.

There certainly were pockets of people scattered around, but the Sundre area didn't seem quite as busy as the Rocky Mountain House region, he said.

In an RCMP activity report (click here to see the report), he said among the few issues over the weekend was a 17-year-old female who lost control and crashed a dirt bike she was riding. She suffered serious lower body injuries and was transported by EMS to receive medical treatment. In a bizarre incident, a male from Calgary faces assault charges after chasing with an axe members of a group he was camping with following an altercation with his girlfriend.

Having worked the entire weekend, the officer told the Round Up he had some leave lined up and that he planned to work on his deck and also looked forward to doing some camping as well.