A Saturday night fire on a rural property north of Highway 22 reduced a building to a pile of charred beams and ash in a matter of minutes.
At approximately 10:00 p.m., fire crews from Priddis, Turner Valley, Black Diamond and several other outlying fire departments responded to a ranch west of Priddis Valley Road after reports of fire.
Foothills Fire Department Fire Chief Jim Smith says approximately 25 firefighters arrived on scene and encountered a shop engulfed in flames. “It was fully involved when we arrived so we started extinguishing.”
Smith says the contents of the approximately 30m by 30m (100' x 100') shop presented additional challenges.
“There’s a lot of risk with hazardous material, propane cylinders and with lots of fuel tanks,” said Smith. “Firefighters are taking extreme risk working around those vessels and working to extinguish this fire.”
Damp conditions prevented the fire from spreading to the grass around the building. Despite the effort of the fire crews, the building could not be salvaged.
Firefighters remained on scene for several hours to monitor hotspots. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
According to neighbours, the fire occurred on the Tangled Spur Ranch.
