Around 10:30 pm Wednesday, April 23, the Drumheller Fire Department, EMS and the RCMP responded to a fire alarm in the 300 block of 2nd Street East in Drumheller.

Luckily, no one was home when a fire broke out late Wednesday night on 2nd Street East. Emergency services were alerted by an alarm at about 10:30 p.m., April 23, and responded to a structure fire of a single-family home beside the former CJDV Radio building. When they arrived, the front of the house was fully involved. Firefighters quickly doused the flames as utility crews shut off power and gas.

It was learned that a young family and a dog lived in the house, but were not home at the time of the fire. There were no injuries. Police say the cause of the blaze is still being investigated but the incident does not appear to be criminal in nature.

At the age of 20, artist Joe Nolan is no stranger to the East Coulee SpringFest.
    Nolan has performed at the last four SpringFests, and will be back again this year for shows on both May 2 and 3.

Musician Joe Nolan is returning to the East Coulee SpringFest May 2 and 3, 2014. Nolan’s dad brought him and his sisters on trips to Drumheller when he was younger.

    “I hope to continue to attend, because it is something I look forward to every year,” said Nolan.
    “It is such a high to be able to get up and share songs for people that gather together in one place all for the same reason - music.”
    Nolan had been in Nashville recording his second disc, Tornado, which was released at the end of January by Six Shooter Records.
    He said reaction to his second album has been positive.
    “It has been gathering a great response and reviews from across Canada and Europe. Feels like Tornado is making the move,” Nolan said.
    He cites some of his musical influences as Jeff Buckley, Neil Young, Mark Koelek, Cohen, and Muddy Waters.   East Coulee Museum manager and SpringFest coordinator Barb Steeves said this could be the biggest line-up for the festival yet, with 46 musical acts performing.
    Steeves said something different they’re doing this year is opening two performance venues for the Friday night concert - one of those venues is the East Coulee School Museum.
  “We’ve never had two venues on the Friday night before. Basically, we wanted to bring it back to the Museum. We thought people weren’t sure (it was for the museum) - they just knew it was East Coulee.”
  Tickets are available at Riverside Drug Value Drug Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart, the East Coulee Hotel, or on their website www.ecsmuseum.ca. under “SpringFest” at the top of the page.
  Steeves said SpringFest still needs volunteers for security, food service and musicians intake, and asks those interested to fill out the volunteer application on the Museum’s website.