A diesel spill resulted in an hour-long traffic delay on Highway 2, March 1.
At around noon, members of the Airdrie Integrated Traffic Unit responded to a report of a spill in the southbound lanes of Highway 2 just south of the Highway 72 overpass.
Officers located a semi-truck, hauling an empty flat-deck trailer, parked on the shoulder.
The truck had a punctured passenger-side fuel tank, caused by the vehicle hitting a piece of debris on the highway.
Between 300 and 400 litres of diesel fuel was spilled in the ditch.
One lane of southbound traffic was closed for about an hour to allow emergency crews to contain the spill.
Alberta Environment has been notified of the diesel spill and will be monitoring the cleanup of the affected area.
Alberta’s environment and sustainable resource development department called an early start to wildfire season, March 1.
All burning activities in the province’s forest protection area, excluding campfires, will now require a fire permit.
In 2012, wildfires burned more than 934 acres in the province, well above the five-year average of 533 acres.
Perry Prete, deputy fire chief for Rocky View Fire Services, said although the situation may have changed in areas due to the snowfall over the March 1 weekend, forested areas are dryer than usual.
For visitors and residents to the areas, such as Kananaskis, that means open campfires may be prohibited, said Prete, adding signage should be in place warning visitors.
“People don’t’ realize even the cold wind will dry foliage out until it is really tinder dry,” said Prete.
“Consider, if you are having an open campfire, that you have cleaned the area around, that you make sure when you leave that it is out.”
Prete added travellers should also be aware what they are doing.
“We get a lot of fires where people are travelling along roadways and flick out a cigarette and don’t realize it is that dry and a couple of hours later (a fire starts),” he said.
“Be aware of your surroundings and that things are dry, so limit your outdoor campfires and be very observant when you leave the scene that everything is out.”
For more information and an up-to-date list of fire bans and wildfires, visit www.srd.alberta.ca
If you have information on any unsolved crime, call Airdrie RCMP at 403-945-7200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
