High winds keeps Southern Alberta Emergency Services busy

Chris Davis

Pincher Creek emergency services were kept busy  today, November 23.  They attended an accident on Highway 22 involving a semi-truck blown over by the high winds, blocking part of the highway and requiring them to perform traffic control duties until the vehicle was removed.  At Pincher Station they doused a fire near the site of the old Husky House.  A pile of discarded  railway ties was ignited, likely by sparks from a passing train.

According to Fire Chief Dave Cox, Pincher Creek Emergency Services also responded to a situation at the Foothills Trailer Park in Pincher Creek, where a trailer roof was blown off in the high winds. Emergency Services stabilized material at the site to prevent possible injuries.


Cox said conditions west of Pincher Creek were wet enough to diminish fire hazards, but also cautioned that one of the biggest fires in this area occurred around this time of the year. He said the Porcupine Hills area often dries out in this high-wind, Chinook weather, increasing the risk of fires.


Further afield, fire and emergency crews from Okotoks, High River, Cayley, Nanton, Blackie and Vulcan are at the scene of a huge fire northeast of Nanton. The fire broke out at around 2:00 pm Wednesday, reportedly in some wood chips, at the Chinook Feeders cattle feed lot about 25 km from Nanton, and was quickly spread by the high winds.

At last report six semi-trailers were blown over by the winds on Highway 2 between High River and Fort Macleod, and at least two more today. One of those incidents, north of Nanton, forced a temporary closure of the Highway 2 southbound lane. RCMP were advising vehicles, particularly larger ones with a higher profile, to stay off of Highway 2 until the winds subside.


Power service in the Town of Nanton was disrupted for the second day in a row.


Staff and students at Nanton's J.T. Foster High School were sent home for the day after being evacuated to a different nearby school around 10 am this morning, November 23, after winds gusting to 100 km an hour ripped off a large chunk of the school's gym. Inspectors are presently trying to determine the safety of the structure before the school can be reopened. (Note:Original reports indicated in error that the shop roof had been damaged, when in fact it was the gym roof.)

Weather warning still in effect

A wind warning is still in effect for Pincher Creek and most of southern Alberta. Conditions are improving this evening as the winds diminish.

In the Pincher Creek area, Environment Canada predicts rain showers this evening, turning to light flurries after midnight, to about 5 cm. A southwest wind of 80 km an hour, gusting to 100, is already diminishing to the predicted 40 km an hour gusting to 60 this evening. Winds may gust up to 70 km an hour later tomorrow morning, Thursday, November 24.