As if hot, dry weather wasn’t bad enough, Albertans can add another man-made cause to the early start of wildfire season — natural gas pipeline explosions.The Alberta Forest Service reported on Wednesday that it is managing to hold a wildfire caused after a TC Energy pipeline on the NOVA system exploded in the Edson forest area about 28 km northeast of Obed Lake near Hinton..A total of 28 wildland firefighters, heavy equipment and a helicopter from the Alberta government and Yellowhead Country Fire Department were on scene after it was initially reported as out of control.The fire was estimated to be about 10 hectares in size.In a statement Alberta Fire said fire crews will begin hotspotting, which consists of digging into the ground, looking and feeling for any hotspots that could resurface."This means that given current weather conditions and resources, the wildfire is not anticipated to grow past expected boundaries,” it said. “This wildfire does not pose a threat to any community. The cause of the wildfire remains under investigation.” .NOVA is the main natural gas gathering system in Alberta that connects about 25,000 km of pipelines to BC, Saskatchewan and the Alberta-US border.On its own website TC said the section of line has been isolated and shut down. There were no reported injuries or supply disruptions as a result of the incident.“We are making all appropriate notifications to regulators, customers, stakeholders and Indigenous communities. The Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) said in a statement late Tuesday that it is responding to the incident. “CER inspectors will be onsite to monitor and assess the company's immediate response and verify that all reasonable actions are being taken to protect workers, the public and the environment,” it said.Unlike oil pipeline spills, environmental damage from natural gas ruptures are usually limited to the immediate vicinity of the leak.
