More than a dozen people were rescued from vehicles on the Trans Canada Highway in western Calgary late Tuesday night, after a major water main broke — leading to thousands of homes being affected.
The significant break happened in the city’s northwest in the area of the Sarcee Trail and the 16 Avenue Northwest/Trans Canada Highway interchange, near the Bowness community.
Early details from City of Calgary indicate there are 2,000 homes and 100 businesses impacted.
The Calgary Fire Department rescued 13 people from their vehicles on Highway 1 and seven vehicles were trapped in the water. Nobody was injured.
Firefighters and members of the Calgary Police Service were on the scene directing traffic late Tuesday night and overnight, the stretch of the Trans Canada crossing the Bow River was closed from Sarcee Trail to Home Road.
An Emergency Operations Centre was opened and the Municipal Emergency Plan triggered.
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Calgary Mayor Jeremy Farkas announced late Tuesday night a boil water order was issued for the neighbourhoods of Montgomery, Parkdale and Point McKay.
Farkas said the city activated its Stage 4 water restrictions for outdoor water use such as rinks, snow-making or other large outdoor water usage.
Indoor facilities such as pools, rinks and recreation facilities are advised to implement their water reduction plans.
“As part of our efforts to manage water supply during this critical period, we need everyone to take simple but impactful steps to reduce indoor water use,” Farkas said in one of his several updates overnight on social media.
That included limiting showers to under three minutes, flushing toilets only when necessary and run dishwashers and laundry only when full.
Following an initial probe, authorities say they believe the break is related to the Bearspaw South Feeder Main — infamous for a significant rupture in June 2024 that caused an extended outage.
Emergency crews are now assessing the cause of the break, the damage, and the system’s water pressure to determine the impact on residents in neighbouring communities.
The city is anticipating a media availability in mid- to late-morning Wednesday.
— More to come…
— With files from The Canadian Press
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