Black smoke and a couple of small explosions were reported after Red Rock Oilfield Construction in Caroline was heavily damaged in a fire on Tuesday afternoon.
“There was truly black smoke billowing. I heard some loud bangs and I couldn’t figure out what it was,” said Helen Willigar, a member of the Caroline Royal Canadian Legion.
“It’s totally the talk of the town.”
Red Rock, located at 5119 50 St., is across the street from the Legion. Emergency crews cordoned off 50th Street and 51st Avenue in the afternoon.
No one was in the Legion hall at the time of the fire, Willigar believed.
Don Ashin runs the Gas and Snacks station that is only a few blocks away from the site of the blaze. He thought a shed at the shop caught fire.
“Well, it was pretty bad about 10 minutes ago,” he said around 2:45 p.m.
“It looks like it’s starting to be put out.”
Gas and Snacks and the nearby Pioneer General Store were never evacuated.
MaryAnn Wold, who works at the general store, believed that Red Rock does some welding and therefore thought explosive materials might be on site.
She said the black smoke had given way to grey smoke and that the fire appeared to have died down just before 4 p.m.
This came as a relief.
“There wasn’t the big explosion that they were talking about,” she said.
“You never know when you hear it’s full of acetylene and oxygen and a shop with trucks and stuff in it.”
Willigar attempted to go to the Legion just before 6 p.m. but said the streets were still blocked off and fire crews were still at the scene.
The fire appeared to have been put out, she said.
Fire departments from Caroline, Clearwater County, Red Deer County and Spruce View responded to the fire. Fire officials could not be reached Tuesday evening.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com