Massive Fish Creek fire chars parts of grassy park

A major grass fire in south Fish Creek Provincial Park scorched a large section of land after eruptingFriday afternoon.

After the fire was contained, there was concern earlier Friday night that hot spots would flare up because of intense winds in the area.

Thefire was close to people's homes in the southeast community of Deer Run, andstretched from the river banks to just outsidepeople's backyards.

People in the provincial park were evacuated and though there were reports of residents dousing their homes with garden hoses, no one was evacuated from their home.

Earlier, fire spokesperson Carol Henke saidit was in an area that's difficult to firefighters to reach.

The provincial department of Sustainable Resource Development sent three helicopters as back up. They were taking water from the river to douse the flames.

A witness in the area said he saw the whole thing. The man said a group of people werehaving a barbeque when wind picked up embers and a small fire started nearby.

It only took 20 minutes for the fire to char alarge part of the park, said the witness.

Fire bans

The City of Airdrie imposed a fire ban just after noon Friday. The city said it had two grass fires in the past 24 hours.

Fire bans are also in place for the southern Alberta communities of Redwood Meadows, Cochrane andChestermere.

Details on those fire bans are available atalbertafirebans.ca.