WESTLOCK— Extremely dry and windy conditions across the region in recent days has prompted fire restrictions in Athabasca, Barrhead, and Westlock Counties.
The restrictions were put in place within a 24-hour period last week between April 10-11, and were upgraded from fire advisories, in effect since early April. Several regions south and east of Town & Country This Week’s coverage area, including Parkland County and Smoky Lake County have already issued complete fire bans in their respective areas.
Most recently, as of 12 p.m. on April 11, the County of Barrhead suspended all fire and large burn permits and has prohibited activities including burn barrels, fireworks and torches, including tiki torches, campfires on backcountry public land, and any outdoor campfires that are not in an approved fire pit.
Pellet and charcoal barbeques, as well as propane or natural gas barbeques or fire pits, are still permitted, and outdoor fires in approved fire pits are also allowed.
County of Barrhead fire chief Gary Hove said the department is trying to be proactive, and noted it was at about this time last year that the fire department started responding to wildland fires.
In 2023, the Barrhead Regional Fire Services (BRFS) responded to 44 wildland fires, the vast majority in April and May.
Hove also noted that early spring, after the snow has melted, exposed vegetation is “extremely dry and can easily catch on fire,” he said.
In addition to the fire restrictions, Hove reminded people not to throw cigarette butts out their vehicle windows and take extreme care when extinguishing their cigarettes outdoors.
Fire restrictions will remain in place until conditions improve, said Hove, noting while there is some precipitation expected in the forecast in the form of rain or snow, he did not believe it would be enough to rescind the restrictions.
“But it will definitely help,” he said, cautioning people who are quadding or dirt biking to also take extra care, as the heat from their engines and exhaust systems can easily start a fire.
Athabasca County Fire Services was the first to enforce fire restrictions last week on April 10. This means new fire permits will not be issued, existing permits will not be renewed, and all existing open-burning permits are cancelled. Fires in bylaw-compliant fire pits or burn barrels are not included in the restrictions, and the fire restriction status in the county does not include the Forest Protection Area.
A spokesperson for Athabasca County reminded residents to use extreme caution when partaking in outdoor recreational activities.
“Motorized vehicles travelling through dry grass can quickly start a fire with hot exhaust components,” read an April 10 release. “Campfires, while still allowed, are only permitted in designed fire pits and must comply with conditions listed in Section 7 of the Fire Services Bylaw.”
Meanwhile, Westlock County officials are also urging residents and visitors to the area to use extreme caution when “working or driving in grassy areas” and noted in a release that fire permits are being restricted to essential burning only, such as small debris or crop removal, and permits for large brush will not be issued.
Westlock County fire chief and manager of protective services, John Biro, said since the snow has melted this spring, they have already attended four incidents, including two ditch fires, a property fire as a result of burn barrel use, and one structure fire.
“Even at this time with structure fires, it’s threatening for wildfire because the grass is dead, the lawns are dead, and it just spreads to the bush,” said Biro. “We know these wind conditions we’ve been having don’t help. They definitely (were) a factor in the fire size and the spread of the fire.”
Biro noted the fires have happened in the past one to two weeks and stressed the importance of residents being mindful of all restrictions in place.
“Conditions aren’t appropriate to be doing any unsupervised burning at this time,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we (put) the restrictions on and we minimized the (use of) burn barrels. We added that into the restriction because they are our number one leading cause of fires usually, at this time of year,” added Biro.
In addition to the burn barrels, several other items are prohibited during a fire restriction and include exploding targets and tracer rounds, as well there is no backcountry wood fire pit on public lands or unsupervised campgrounds permitted, no tiki torches, no fireworks, no turkey fryers and no fires using charcoal briquettes.
Backyard fire pits are allowed but must have a minimum of a three-meter clearance, measured from the nearest fire pit edge maintained from buildings, property lines, or other combustible material and have a mesh screen with openings no larger than 12.5 millimetres and constructed of expanded metal (or equivalent non-combustible material), gas or propane stove barbeques.
Portable propane fire pits, that are CSA approved or UL certified are allowed, as are safe wood fire in a registered campground. OHVs that have a spark arrestor are also allowed (all devices must be CSA approved and used as per manufacturer standards.)
Residents are also asked to “supervise and extinguish all fires during windy, dry conditions” and if you are burning, you “shall have water and extinguishing equipment handy and ready.” It is also recommended that all burn permits previously issued be checked, as well as fires associated with those permits to ensure that they are out and not cause a spring grass fire.
Last year, Westlock County firefighters attended about 14 wildfires during the wildfire season.
“We’re in April and typically our fire season starts in May so we’re definitely early into the season,” said Biro. “I don’t know what May is going to bring, especially if we don’t have a good rainfall to green things up. So, it’s going to take some time and hopefully people play safe out there and think before they do.”
For more information or updates on fire restrictions across the region, visit www.albertafirebans.ca
With files from Cole Brennan and Barry Kerton
