A fire at Rangeland RV in Balzac on Oct. 16 caused major damage to the dealership’s main showroom and service building, according to Anna Melnick, communications coordinator with Rocky View County (RVC).
According to Deputy Fire Chief Gary Barnett from Rocky View Fire Services, crews responded to the scene at 12:45 a.m.
The fire is the biggest one Barnett said he’s seen so far this year, and required that crews respond from a number of area fire departments.
“We had the engine from Balzac, we had an engine and a tanker from Bearspaw, we had an engine, a tanker and aerial from Crossfield, we had a tanker from Irricana, we had a tanker from Madden, we had the tanker from Airdrie, and we actually brought in an air support unit from Langdon to blow out some of the (firefighter’s air) cylinders,” Barnett said. “We had about 26 firefighters (on scene) at the height of the fire.”
Barnett said fire crews remained on scene until 2:30 p.m., working to ensure all hot spots were extinguished and ventilating what remained of the building.
“It did have a small flare-up early this morning (Oct. 17) so the crews came out and dealt with that,” Barnett said. “It’s always a case with a fire that within 24 hours after we leave there’s always a chance of a small flare-up as it starts to dry out.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Melnick said it doesn’t appear to be suspicious. The building was locked by employees at 6 p.m. on Oct. 15.
“The building was completely secured when we arrived, there was no sign of any break-ins,” Barnett said.
According to Barnett, there were at least three or four RVs in the showroom at the time of the fire. The value of the loss is expected to be high but was not known at press time.
“I believe they also store the TVs in the storeroom. Obviously when they sell an RV they go into the store, bring out all the electronics and fit them in,” he said.
There were no injuries to employees or to the firefighters, according to Barnett. EMS was on scene to attend to firefighters.
“They come along usually as an automatic response for our safety,” he explained. “We kept them on scene for the whole of the incident. Once a firefighter has worn a couple of cylinders (of air), they’ll have done some work so we’ll send them to rehab so (EMS will) take blood pressures and make sure they’ve had some water and make sure they’re OK and send them back to us.”
Media Liaison Constable Jason Curtis said Airdrie Rural RCMP also responded to the scene.
“In partnership with Rocky View Fire Services, the investigation is currently on-going,” Curtis said.
The integrity of the remaining structure is uncertain. Melnick said a building engineer has been called in to assess the extent of the damage to both buildings, which had metal frames and was metal clad.
Two investigators from the insurance company and a building engineer were at the site on Oct. 17, according to Barnett.
