Barrhead Regional Fire Services issues complete fire ban

Barrhead Regional Fire Services has issued a total fire ban for the Town of Barrhead as well as the County of Barrhead.
Fire chief John Whittaker declared the ban at 12 p.m. on May 23.
The ban includes fireworks, tannerite, fire pits for heating and cooking, liquid and solid fire barbecues or any outside fires of any kind. The only exception is gas-fired barbecues.
“It is just too dry and it is not going to get any better,” he said.
Environment Canada, as of press time does not predict any notable precipitation until late this week.
This comes after the fire department issued a partial issued ban on May 4, which allowed fires in approved fire pits but only for cooking and heating purposes.
“It’s not something we enjoy doing, and the last thing we implement is a ban on cooking and heating fires, but it is just popcorn dry,” he said, noting over the past three weeks the department has responded to multiple grass fires.
Whittaker added that the public also needs to be cognizant of how dry the vegetation is when taking part in any outdoor activity.
“It doesn’t take much when we have conditions like this to start a fire. A discarded cigarette butt, a spark or even just the heat coming off a tailpipe from an ATV,” he said.
Two years ago the fire department responded to a grass fire in Lac La Nonne that was started by a person mowing their lawn, which caused the poplar fuzz to ignite.
The fine for a fire during the ban is $250 for a first offence, $500 for a second and $1,000 for the third. In addition to the fines, if the fire department is called to put a fire out that has gotten out of hand the resident is on the hook for the costs of putting out the fire.
On May 24, Lac Ste. Anne County issued a complete fire ban.
The ban affects all outdoor fires including cooking and warming fires even if they are done in an approved fire pit, brush pile fires, slash pile fires and the use of burn barrels. The ban also includes backwoods or random camping areas, charcoal briquettes, deep fryers (e.g. turkey fryers), tiki torches and wood fires in outdoor recreation facilities such as group campsites, gazebos, teepees, and wood-burning stoves inside tent-like structures. Additionally, fireworks permits will not be issued at this time.
Both bans are in effect until further notice.
Barrhead and Lac Ste. Anne joins a growing list of neigbouring municipalities, which have issued partial, or full fire bans, including the Town of Westlock, the County of Westlock, and the Whitecourt Forest area, which includes Woodlands County. For more on bans throughout the province visit: https://albertafirebans.ca.