Fire ban in effect for town and county

There is a full fire ban in effect for the Town of Barrhead and the County of Barrhead, says Barrhead Fire Chief John Whittaker.

Whittaker made his comments May 4 shortly before responding to another grassfire on Highway 33 and Range Road 53.

“We’ve been going at it all day, slogging through knee-deep water. It’s been a long day,” Whittaker said, adding it was the fifth grassfire they had responded to in three days. The ban includes all forms of fire except for the purpose of heating and cooking, and must be done in a fire department-approved manner and will be on until further notice.

“The wind is not helping and it is so dry out here. You can still have fires for eating and cooking purposes in an approved fire pit but burn barrels, brush fires, open fires, etc. are banned at this time.”

And Valard health and safety supervisor Jim Friesen, one of the first to see the grassfire Whittaker responded to, said he happened to be driving through the area and had no choice but to stop. “What was I going to do? I had a fire extinguisher in the back of my truck and a shovel and when the fire extinguisher ran out, I just grabbed the shovel and did what I could,” Friesen said.

For more information, contact the fire department at 780-674-2087.