SUNDRE – Rainy weather over the May long weekend might have put a damper in the spirits of outdoor enthusiasts during the kickoff to the camping season, but the conditions also kept the risk of fire at bay.
“It was a quiet weekend … thanks to the rain,” said Sundre Fire Department Chief Ross Clews, adding members did not have to respond to any fires from Friday to Monday, May 16-19.
“We’ve actually been pretty good the last few years,” said Clews, adding this year was on par.
“The campers and the people are, I think, doing things a little more proactively and smarter,” he said.
“A lot of the people do know that the province is having an issue with wildfires right now, so they’ve been a little more careful.”
The department did, however, respond to two medical calls as well as three motor vehicle collisions, none of which were of any major significance, he said.
There was a soft rollover out on Forestry Trunk Road when a vehicle ended up in a ditch, but the driver had managed to get out by the time a crew arrived at the scene, he said.
Another vehicle rolled and came to a rest laying on its side while coming over the bridge in Sundre after hitting an angled bracket, he said.
Although the Highway 27-Main Avenue corridor is under heavy construction, the chief said that was not a factor.
“It’s got nothing to do with the construction because, you know, semis go through there.”
For their part, local Mounties responded to 32 calls for service during the same period; although a much higher call volume, the long weekend overall went well, said Cpl. Courtney Harding, the Sundre RCMP’s acting commander.
The RCMP’s number of calls this year was comparable to 2024, with an increase of only one call for service, said Harding.
Their busiest day was on Saturday, May 17 when members received 13 calls, she said.
“We had additional policing resources brought into supplement Sundre RCMP members throughout the weekend, including additional members working in the West Country on quads patrolling crown land sites,” she said.
In the area around Sundre, the corporal said there were multiple speeding as well as erratic traffic-related complaints.
Out in the West Country, the RCMP received two 911 hang-up complaints from a Calgary male advising he had ended up in a ditch and required police assistance.
“We tracked the male down via his GPS coordinates, and found the vehicle in a very remote location,” said Harding, adding he was found southwest of Range Road 80.
“The driver had attempted to turn his vehicle around on a lease site road the night before, when his vehicle slid approximately 30 feet down a steep embankment,” she said.
“The driver was stuck at the location overnight with limited cell service and no provisions of food, water or other survival equipment,” she added.
Members of the Sundre RCMP transported him back to Sundre and the vehicle was towed from the location, she said.
There were also two disturbance-related complaints resulting from camping locations in the West County, one of which remained under investigation with charges pending when the corporal responded to questions on Tuesday, May 20.
