Ashcroft Fire Rescue crews are urging people to remove cedar trees from their property after two families lost their homes in a fire earlier this month.

“Cedars do not belong in a desert environment, and that’s all there is to it.”

Ashcroft Fire Chief Josh White says when crews arrived on the scene of the structure fire in North Ashcroft on July 16, two homes were already fully engulfed in flames.

“We had a very good response time for volunteer haul, we were there in seven minutes and we were aggressively fighting this.”

“But it was spreading into properties across the street. A couple of spot fires were reported; one was extinguished by us and one by a property owner in their backyard.”

White says wind and cedar trees played a major factor in the rapid spread of the fire.

“There were some cedars that are that are approximately 30 feet tall that contributed to the further property being damaged there.”

In part because of the cedar trees, White says this fire had the potential to be devastating not only for the two homes but the whole neighbourhood.

“These cedars are just playing havoc on properties on both sides If a fire starts in your property, and there are cedar trees there, chances are it could affect your neighbours’ property as well.”

While there were no deaths or injuries from the fire, White urges people with cedar trees to remove them from their property.