Fire Destroys Grass Monkeys Cannabis Facility Near High River, Alberta

A blaze that overwhelmed a 3,000-square-foot cannabis building in Aldersyde on Aug. 19 is under investigation, with no injuries reported.

FILE — police lights · Tony Webster / CC BY-SA 2.0

A cannabis production facility south of Calgary was destroyed by fire on Wednesday, according to Yahoo News Canada, which cited Foothills County fire officials describing a blaze that quickly overwhelmed responders.

What Happened

Foothills County fire services received the call at 5:47 a.m. for a structure fire in Aldersyde, along 82 Street E. north of High River, Yahoo News Canada reported. By the time crews arrived, fire battalion chief Will Scheerhoorn said the flames had already engulfed the tin roof of the 3,000-square-foot building.

Scheerhoorn told Yahoo News Canada that additional firefighters from Okotoks and Diamond Valley were called in to help contain the fire, which was aggressive enough that crews initially could only attack it from the outside. "They tried to make entry into the warehouse, but it was it was just too far gone. It was too hot, and so they they switched back to a defensive operation," he said.

Extinguishing the Blaze

The tin exterior of the building complicated firefighting efforts by trapping heat and obscuring the interior, according to Scheerhoorn's account to Yahoo News Canada. "The the steel tin exterior was covering a lot of the hardware and a lot of the interior of the building, and we were we would put fire out as soon as he would you would dig it out," he said. Crews used an excavator to access the structure, and the fire was fully extinguished by noon, per the outlet's report.

High River RCMP, EMS, and utility crews from ATCO and Fortis were also on scene supporting firefighters, Yahoo News Canada reported. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire and the exact time it started remain under investigation, according to the outlet.

The Company

The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission's website lists the destroyed facility as belonging to Grass Monkeys Premium Craft Cannabis, Yahoo News Canada reported. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Postmedia, according to the same report. Our database's official license records did not return a matching entry for the company, meaning independent confirmation of its licensing status beyond the AGLC listing cited by Yahoo News Canada was not available at time of writing.

Context

Facility fires are uncommon events in Canada's licensed cannabis sector, which has otherwise been dominated in recent weeks by corporate and regulatory news. Our related coverage shows a wave of activity elsewhere in the industry this month, including Aurora Cannabis facing a hostile takeover bid from Curaleaf, per CBC, and expanding its UK supply chain through acquisitions, according to StratCann. Canopy Growth renewed EU GMP certification at its Kincardine facility, BNN Bloomberg reported, while SNDL passed a similar audit at a New Brunswick site, according to Cannabis Business Times. Organigram reported record revenue following a European acquisition, per MJBizDaily, and Canada's second-largest producer posted $166 million in revenue, TradingView reported.

Separately, CBC reported that Cannabis N.B. is contending with declining sales and stiffer illicit-market competition, a reminder that provincial retail conditions vary widely across the country. None of this broader market coverage references Grass Monkeys or the Aldersyde facility directly, and it is not clear from available reporting whether the fire will have any measurable effect on regional supply.

What to Watch

Investigators have not yet determined a cause for the fire, and Yahoo News Canada's report does not indicate a timeline for that determination. Whether Grass Monkeys plans to rebuild, and how the loss of the 3,000-square-foot facility might affect its operations or licensing status with the AGLC, remains unclear pending further statements from the company or provincial regulators.