Quick thinking by employees at a grain elevator west of Lacombe helped avert a more serious situation during a minor grain fire, a fire official said Tuesday.
Capt. Tim Vander Roest of the Lacombe Fire Department said the station received a call at 1:20 p.m. about a fire at the Viterra grain elevator about four km west of Lacombe on Hwy 12.
An extra amount of grain chaff, likely the result of the harvest, became overheated and was ignited by the grain dryer, which was running at the time, the captain said.
“They were right on top of the situation as soon as they noticed some smoke and flame,” he added.
“They called us immediately and there’s almost no damage to the product and the piece of equipment.”
He said the situation could have been much worse.
“Obviously the employees have their training in place and are following it because these things can be a lot worse,” Vander Roest said.
A full fire department crew responded including a tanker, pumper and rescue truck.
The Clive Fire Department was also called because of the potential of a larger fire.