A recreational fire in your backyard, or at a campsite, is illegal in areas of the Bow Valley as a provincial fire ban continues.
The recent wet weather is “misleading,” and in Canmore, the MD of Bighorn and Kananaskis Country, a ban on all types of fires is firmly in place.
“It’s like a broken record,” tweeted Canmore Fire-Rescue, Sunday (May 8), after being called to an illegal backyard fire.
Local fire departments have responded to illegal fires since the fire ban was put into place on Thursday (May 5), including about a half a dozen times in the Canmore area.
Despite some recent drizzly conditions in the valley, Canmore Fire-Rescue states it’s pretty dry out there after the area was under a very high fire hazard.
“A little bit of precipitation can be misleading, the forest conditions haven’t really changed that much,” said JT Gill, Canmore Fire-Rescue assistant chief.
“Because we’ve been so dry for so long, it takes a lot longer than just 24 hours of rain to change conditions in the forest … Even (Monday) didn’t get that much precipitation, not enough to change the hazard.”
Gill said it usually takes a few days of rain to change the hazard rating.
The province-wide fire ban is to ensure maximum firefighting resources can remain in northern Alberta where wildfires have devastated approximately 161,000 hectares (and growing) and caused mass evacuations such as to the oil city of Fort McMurray.
More than 1,500 firefighters are currently battling blazes in the north.
“The main reason for the (provincial) fire ban is because they don’t need anything to happen down here, because they need the resources up there. Plus, it is dry,” said Exshaw Fire Chief Rick Lyster.
“We might even get snow (this week) and it’s hard for people to understand they can’t have a fire, but it’s the way it is.”
Exshaw Fire-Rescue responded to an illegal campfire last week and responded to a few in Kananaskis.
Banff National Park, considered federal government land, allows for recreational fires, and is on low fire danger, according to Parks Canada.
Fire Chief Silvio Adamo said there isn’t a lot of concern in Banff when fires are contained to their approved devices, such as in a metal ring.
However, people should remain responsible when having a fire with a means to extinguish the flames nearby, such as a bucket of water.
“We always tell people they should be cautious if they’re having a fire, especially in a forested area,” said Adamo.
“It’s tragic what happened up in Fort McMurray and hopefully everyone can learn and improve their communities because of it.”
More information is available at albertafirebans.ca.
