Four firefighters from the Sundre fire department packed their bags and went to Nordegg last month, to help fight the ongoing forest fire.
The fire forced Nordegg residents to evacuate the town for five days. It was declared under control on May 24.
“When that started, it started as a forest fire and as it got closer to the town and the winds and the warm conditions still didn't let up, the county of Clearwater fire department put a voice out to any firefighters that could come up and give them a hand,” said Marty Butts, the Town of Sundre's fire chief.
He said members of the Clearwater fire department were asking for four or five firefighters from surrounding fire departments.
“There was fire departments from across Central Alberta that came there with three or four guys and some brought equipment,” he said.
“We didn't fight the forest fire basically, the forestry people were in fighting and we were there to protect and stop the fire from going through town.”
He said the Sundre firefighters took shifts 24/7 patrolling the edge of the town and dealing with hot spots.
“They had certain structures that they wanted to save, like the old church and museums and certain buildings that they gave us a briefing on saying ‘this is what we want to protect in this town',” he said.
The Sundre firefighters slept at the fire hall in Nordegg and stayed for three days, from May 14 to May 16.
Along with Butts, Sundre firefighters Dave Bennet, Rob McBride and Jordie McDonald attended the Nordegg fire.
The fire started on May 5 approximately 1.5 kilometres west of Nordegg and is currently declared as under control.
The size of the fire reached 250 hectares and forced residents of Nordegg to evacuate on May 12. They were sent to Rocky Mountain House and were able to return home on May 17.
More than 100 firefighters from across Central Alberta helped fight the fire.
