Despite the significant flow of traffic that descended upon Sundre during the Labour Day long weekend, local emergency services reported a largely uneventful time.
"It was pretty tame and people were behaving," Cpl. Joe Mandel of the Sundre RCMP told the Round Up last week.
"I assume that the fire bans and restrictions may have played a role in the tameness."
The Sundre Fire Department also reported what amounted to be a "pretty quiet weekend," said Chief Marty Butts.
Sundre firefighters responded to a call for mutual aid with the Didsbury Fire Department to put out a bale fire on a farm. Locally, there was also a grass fire in a ditch near James River. But by the time firefighters arrived, passersby had already used their own fire extinguishers to snuff out the blaze that could otherwise have spread quickly, he said.
"I don't know who they are," he said about the Good Samaritans. But he nevertheless expressed his gratitude for their deed, which might very well have prevented a much more serious situation.
And even though the highways and back roads were busy with people heading to and from the West Country, the fire department did not find itself responding to any motor vehicle collisions, including off-highway vehicles, he said.
"Everyone must have been driving carefully," the fire chief said, admitting that he cannot help but anticipate some kind of emergency when the area becomes so busy with people coming out from the city.
"It's good to see a long weekend go by with no major incidents to report."
