ATHABASCA - Athabasca County councillors voted to uphold a fire invoice despite a request from the homeowners for forgiveness following an accidental blaze that burned down three barns.
In a 6-1 vote May 13 — councillors Gary Cromwell and Natasha Kapitaniuk were absent, and Coun. Joe Gerlach was opposed — county councillors voted to uphold the decision on the advice of their administrative team, who investigated the incident after Sherman Doroshenko and his sister Rosemary Delorme asked for the $4,550 bill to be reduced.
“The fire wasn’t intentionally lit, I thought it was in the safe zone,” said Doroshenko during an April 24 presentation to councillors
“I don’t feel that I was in the wrong; I know accidents happen, but I don’t know if it was an accident. I lit a bale, thought it was just going to burn and disappear with the weather and melting snow, and apparently it went into the ground.”
Councillors didn’t discuss the request during May 13 meeting, outside of a clarifying question, but administrations report laid out the incident.
The March 6 fire, which was reported by a neighbour, was initially attended by the Colinton fire department, who arrived to find multiple barns engulfed in flames and nearby structures at risk. The department called for more resources, with three fire engines, three water tenders, two wildland units and one rescue truck showing up in total.
The initial invoice was for $11,000, but Athabasca County determined that only one engine and three tenders were required so it was reduced to $4,550 before it was sent to the family.
Doroshenko said the fire started in a spot he had previously burned an old hay bale; he checked the area every weekend when he went out to the farm, but didn’t realize embers could smoulder underground and later reignite. After hearing from Doroshenko, the county determined the fire was of human origin and accidental.
Lastly, the administrative report addressed concerns from Doroshenko about misleading information from the website. Archived copies of the web page from 2022, February 2025, and the current page show the information is the same throughoutout, albeit with a new look.
