BARRHEAD - Barrhead Regional Fire Services (BRFS) chief Gary Hove has instituted a total fire ban for the County of Barrhead.
The ban is in full effect as of 4:30 p.m. on April 22. It prohibits all campfires, other open fires in the backcountry or random camping areas, and fires in firepits. Fireworks, torches, exploding targets, and charcoal (and pellet) barbeques are also prohibited.
As part of the ban, all fire permits, including those for burn barrels and incinerators, are suspended.
Propane and natural gas fire pits are allowed.
"With the dryer conditions, the winds, and just getting further into the [fire season], we felt we should start controlling the number of people burning," Hove said.
Before the ban, the county was under a fire restriction, put in place on April 11, that suspended fire permits and prohibited most fire activities, including fires in burn barrels, incinerators, campfires, fireworks and tiki torches. It did allow for fires in approved fire pits as well as pellet and charcoal barbeques.
"What we found was happening is that people were using their fire pits for yard cleanup, which is something they are not intended for," he said.
Hove said the fire department responded to multiple grass fires caused by people burning yard waste in their fire pits.
"Nothing serious, yet thankfully," Hove said.
However, he said not all the wildfires BRFS firefighters have responded to have been benign.
Hove added that the wildfire they responded to on April 14 outside the Hamlet of Neerlandia caused considerable damage to a residence, melting much of its siding.
"People think it is safe because we were still allowing people to burn in fire pits, but burning those types of things [yard waste] in fire pits can be quite dangerous, especially when the wind picks up," he said. "It doesn't take much to get those little burns going again ... and suddenly they have a small fire in their yard."
Hove said that instituting a total ban in hopes of raising awareness of the wildfire danger.
He added that BRFS has responded to several reports of outdoor fires in which residents disregarded fire restrictions as they did not realize the ban was in effect.
"This way, the signs go up in the community, and more people become aware of the fire danger," Hove said, adding Alberta Forestry rates the Barrhead region fire risk as extreme.
Currently, the ban applies only to the County of Barrhead and not to the town, so residents living there are still allowed to use their fire pits and charcoal barbeques.
"The fire danger is a little bit different in the town than in the county," he said. "There are a few more eyes, smaller yards, and it is more groomed, with people mowing their grass."
But Hove still urged caution for Town of Barrhead residents.
On Saturday, April 20, firefighters were called to extinguish a grassfire on Elevator Road, which, again, was started by someone from a nearby property burning their yard waste in a fire pit.
"We tell people, regardless if there is a fire restriction or ban, they shouldn't burn yard waste when you are doing a yard cleanup," he said, adding that residents should instead take the material to the Town of Barrhead's compost site on 61 Avenue, east of the fire hall.
