Firefighters contain blaze in Calgary's northwest
A 10-acre grassfire in Calgary’s northwest is under control after creeping towards homes and a city storage facility.
The blaze was located near the Calgary West Soccer Centre on Bearspaw Dam Road.
Several fire crews responded to the grassfire and have extinguished most of the flames. They’re now working to hose down any hot spots.
Thick black smoke continues to hang over the area.
According to battalion Chief Al Magwood, that's because the blaze reached some plastic pipes at a city storage facility.
“It made the fire look much worse than it actually was,” he said.
“Normally with a grassfire you kind of get that light, hazy grey colour smoke ... because it's nice clean burning. It's just grass and wooden stuff that's burning," Magwood added. "But if you start getting into the plastics and everything, the smoke gets considerably darker.”
Magwood said he expects to see an increase in grass fires this month considering the dry winter conditions so far.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
