Cypress County confirms a firefighter died while battling fire near Hilda Oct 18, 2017 11:29 AM

DUNMORE, AB — Cypress County has confirmed James Hargrave, a firefighter with the Walsh Fire Service, has died while battling the fires near Hilda Tuesday night.

“James was very community minded and joined the fire services to help and protect residents near and far,” said a release. “He was a great father and will be dearly missed by his wife, children, extended family, friends, neighbours and fellow first responders.”

According to RCMP in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Hargarve’s death happened while Cypress County Firefighters were helping firefighters after the grassfire spead into Saskatchewan and was threatening the communities of Burstall and Leader.

According to the news release, a water truck Hargrave was driving was involved in a motor vehicle collision on a grid road 10 kilometres south of Burstall. The water truck lost control and rolled over, and a pick-up truck was involved in the collision following the intitial rollover. Hargrave, 34, was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver of the pick-up suffered minor injuries.