13 Mar Spring Fire Awareness Message From SAB Fire Chief
Special Areas moves to a Fire Advisory ahead of drier spring conditions
There may still be a bit of snow left in the fields, but Special Areas Fire Services are anticipating drier, more hazardous conditions to be here soon!
To help reduce the risk of grassfires this spring, the Special Areas Board is moving to a Fire Advisory status on March 15. This change is intended to help reduce the potential for grassfires resulting from controlled burns, especially with warmer temperatures and minimal precipitation ahead.
Each spring, fire departments throughout the region respond to grassfires that are a result of older controlled burns that were not fully extinguished or caused grassfires because of wind and drier conditions. With the Fire Advisory in place, controlled burn notifications are being managed on a case-by-case basis, with an emphasis on strong precautions and checking and re-checking old burns.
“Every spring as the snow disappears, we see hazards increase for grassfires. Ground conditions create real challenges for fighting fires when the ground is thawing and access with fire apparatuses is difficult. We ask everyone to be cautious when doing a controlled burn, and most importantly make sure you have received approval to proceed with your controlled burn before your light it. Everyone has a role in preventing grassfires, please do your part!”
Rob Palmer, Special Areas Fire Chief
There are a few important steps you can take to reduce the chance of a controlled burn causing a grassfire:
- Request a controlled burn notification through your local district office during business hours. Remember, this is just the start of the process! Until you receive approval to proceed by phone call or email, you should not be starting to burn!
- Make sure your controlled burn location has fire prevention steps in place. These include making sure there is bare dirt (no vegetation) for at least 30 feet all around your burn area.
- Have water on site in case the fire gets away from you! Fire departments need time to respond to calls, and you will be on your own until fire departments can get to your location.
- If it’s windier than 15 km/hr – don’t burn! If the wind kicks up after you have started a controlled burn, extinguish it until the wind dies down.
- Tell your neighbours you are planning a controlled burn! This helps make sure our volunteer-based fire departments aren’t responding to false alarms.
- Make sure you are burning materials that you are allowed to burn! Check your controlled burn notification for a complete list, but make sure there aren’t things like tires, plastics, painted wood, batteries, appliances, etc. in your burn pit.
For more information about fire services in the Special Areas visit https://specialareas.ab.ca/services/fire-emergency-services/