RCMP Suspects Cause after 17 Fires reported in 6 Days near Trestle bridge in Mayerthorpe

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Reports have confirmed that another massive fire has immersed near the CN rail trestle bridge on the northwest edge of Mayerthorpe on Tuesday afternoon and the RCMP is now considering these fires suspicious. According to the local fire department, it has been reported of almost 17 fires in the area in the past six days.

Mayerthorpe RCMP confirmed they are now investigating the five fires over the past 10 days. In his remarks, Cpl. Grant Kneller stated that “there’s a very good chance that they could be linked and that’s something that we have to keep in mind. It seems quite unusual that there would be five fires in such a short period of time and they not be linked in some way.” Meanwhile, Mayerthorpe Fire Department’s Chief Randy Schroeder explained that “we’ve come to expect that there’s going to be a fire this afternoon and that kind of thing and that expectation shouldn’t be there.”

The provincial fire investigators and CN Rail authorities were present on the scene on Wednesday afternoon in effort to determine the cause of the blaze, which started at 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday. Sources confirm that over 34 local firefighters have been called in to battle Tuesday’s blaze, which was contained just before 4:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the 1,100-foot wooden trestle bridge has collapsed in the fire as the CN Rail line, which stretches from Edmonton to Smoke Lake (near Fox Creek), runs through the town of Whitecourt. Without the trestle bridge, rail service to the community will be put on hold.