Residents buy old fire truck to defend their property against Sparks Lake wildfire

Photo: Andrea Mussfeld

Mussfeld fire truck

What do you do when you need to fight a fire? You get a fire truck.

That's what a Criss Creek couple did when the massive Sparks Lake fire began to threaten their property.

Andrea Mussfeld said she and her husband had been doing every thing possible to keep their property safe but it felt like it wasn't enough.

“We had been using our quad with four jugs of water along with a couple of shovels to keep the hot spots from flaring up,” Mussfeld said.

Mussfeld said she was telling a neighbour couple how tiring it was trying to stay on top of the fires.

The next day, one of those neighbours, Steve Byrd, found a listing on Kijiji — an old fire truck for sale in a small town just outside of Edmonton.

Byrd asked Mussfeld if her and her husband would help to purchase the vehicle, and Mussfeld said she jumped at the chance.

Byrd organized the purchase and transportation, while the Mussfelds continued to defend their property.

According to Mussfeld, the truck was only $5,000, but it cost another $3,000 to get it from Alberta.

Despite the lack of fire hydrants on their property, Mussfeld told Castanet she has a plan.

“We have a creek that runs through our property so we are able to fill it from that by using the truck’s pump or our water pumps,” she explained.

When the truck arrived, the couple lucked out with some rain and didn’t have to use it right away.

But Mussfeld said she made sure to try it out.

“We have tested everything out to ensure that everything runs properly,” Mussfeld said.

“We have it all ready to go and feel so much more prepared.”

Mussfeld said they wouldn’t have been able to do this with out the help of the community.

“I really want to thank everyone that helped get the fire truck to us,” she said.

“We had an army and they deserve all the praise for their efforts.”