Duane Hicks
Due to the very dry conditions this spring, the Fort Frances Fire & Rescue Service and all other municipal fire departments in Rainy River District have declared a ban on all open-air burning until conditions improve.
Fort Frances Fire Chief Gerry Armstrong, who also is the district fire protection co-ordinator, said that after consulting with the Ministry of Natural Resources, they’ve determined “the fire ban is necessary due to the very warm, dry, and windy conditions that are predicted over the next few days.”
“Our snows left early, the ground’s still frozen but relatively dry, and obviously we know there’s not going to be any more run-off unless it begins to rain here real soon,” said Chief Armstrong.
“It’s definitely a dry year, a dry spring, and until we get into that season when it’s going to start to green, we’re probably going to be in trouble,” he warned.
This ban allows for no exceptions, and includes any municipal fire burning permits that already have been issued for this year.
“If people are involved in lighting fires, they’re going to be subject to prosecution, obviously,” Chief Armstrong said.
Harrold Boven, fire management supervisor with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Fort Frances, said yesterday that the MNR has responded to four fires since Thursday, two of which occurred Sunday.
He added it also was a busy weekend for district municipalities, with grass fires reported in Watten, Emo, Chapple, and Dawson townships.
Most of these are known to have been caused by people, noted Boven.
“With our grass fuels, because they’re 100 percent cured, it’s extremely flammable,” he explained. “You get a bit of wind like you did today [Monday], where it’s forecast up to 30 km/h, we can’t catch those types of fires.
“The fuels are so dry. We’re concerned,” he stressed.
The Ministry of Natural Resources’ fire season officially begins April 1, at which time burning during the day is prohibited.
A person cannot light a fire more than two hours before sunset and it must be extinguished within two hours after sunrise.
But Boven clarified that even prior to then, the Forest Fire Prevention Act states that no person shall start a fire outdoors unless conditions would allow the fire to burn safely from start to time of extinguishment.
“What we’re finding right now is, with a little bit of breeze, folks are not being able to keep control of grass fires,” he noted, adding any fires that get out of control will be investigated and those who started them held responsible.
“What we’re saying is the grass fuels are so volatile, please no grass burning until we get some relief in sight,” Boven reiterated.
“The MNR is looking at the fired hazard as we go into the weekend . . . if we’re not seeing any precip happening, we’re considering further restrictions.
“We don’t want to see any burning until it greens up,” he stressed.
