Residents in Rosedale had cause for concern around supper time on Wednesday, February 22, as a plume of smoke covered the skies of some areas of the community.
    A controlled burn of scrap wood became a chaotic inferno when sparks ignited a nearby pile that was not intended to be immolated.
    Inland Plastics staff occasionally conduct controlled burns to dispose of scrap pieces of wood that accumulate when making palettes.
    “The staff were burning a little bit at a time. They put the fire out, covered it, and went home. A spark must have jumped nearby and started smouldering and they didn’t realize it,” said John Goudy, president of Inland Plastics.
    With the dry conditions, the spark soon grew into an enormous blaze.
    Goudy was at work when he got a call from his wife, who was at their home which overlooks the business and the site of the fire. She saw the fire, called Goudy home and phoned 9-1-1.
    The Rosedale Fire Department was on scene in mere minutes. By that time, the fire had grown so large that the heat was palpable from thirty metres away. The fire was completely extinguished and crews left the area late in the evening.
   Bill Bachynski, Fire Chief of Drumheller, warns that residents should exercise caution, considering the dry conditions.
    "Fire is always a concern, even when there is a lot of moisture. You have to always be aware of conditions in and out of your house," said Bachynski.

    An inmate caught with drugs at the Drumheller Institution was able to argue successfully he believed the package that he was carrying contained tobacco.
 Justin Adam Neuman appeared in provincial court in Drumheller charged with possession of drugs.
    On December 14, 2010, the court learned that Neuman entered a cell and retrieved a package from under another inmates pillow with the aim of delivering it to another cell. Upon leaving the cell he was intercepted by corrections officers and taken to a supervisor’s office. He was strip searched, and in his underwear a Lypsyl cap containing cannabis resin was discovered.    This event came not long after a lockdown and inmate Neuman indicated he had been at the institution for less than a month. The cap and the drugs therein weighed less than a half a gram.
    In institution sanctions he was fined $35 and put in segregation for two months.
    In Neuman’s testimony he said he believed the package contained tobacco. He said he was involved in packaging tobacco after inmates had received a shipment. While possession of tobacco is against the rules at the institution, it is not a criminal matter.
    Defense lawyer Allan Fay argued that for Neuman to be found guilty, he would had to have the knowledge that what  he was doing was illegal.
    Federal prosecutor Colin Kloot argued that Neuman ought to have known, or  could have taken steps to find out what was in the package. And by not doing so constituted contrived ignorance or willful blindness.
    In the end Judge Shriar agreed that it was reasonable for Neuman to conclude that the package contained tobacco and this raised reasonable doubt. He was found not guilty.