First blaze beats fire season

Although the fire season doesn’t technically begin until April 1, the Emo Volunteer Fire Department had to be called last Wednesday to handle a grass fire that got out of control.
Emo Fire Chief Rob Johnson said a farmer north of Emo was burning some grass off his property when windy conditions took the blaze beyond his control.
“It was heading towards his barn,” Chief Johnson said, noting that was the man’s main reason for calling the fire department.
Firefighters stayed and helped extinguish the fire with no further incident but Chief Johnson noted it could have gotten worse.
“It’s really dry,” he said. “We’re anticipating [the fire season] to be higher than normal just because of the low snow load.”
Because of the extremely dry conditions, the Emo Fire Department is reminding residents that a permit is required before starting a fire outdoors between April 1-Oct. 31.
Outdoor incinerators and burning barrels are included in these restrictions, Chief Johnson added. Only fire for cooking or warmth are exempted from this.
“Under the fire permit system, we have a fire warden which people have to report to before burning,” he said, noting with the department’s limited resources, it wasn’t a good idea to have a large number of fires burning at once.
“Once you start the fire, you’re required to stay there and take care of it,” he added. “Be sure to have efficient manpower and equipment to keep it under control.”
And when you do leave, he added, make sure it’s out.
Fire permits can be bought at the municipal office for a $5 annual fee, Chief Johnson said. Although the Ministry of Natural Resources handed over fire burning regulations to municipalities a while ago, he noted most area municipalities draft their bylaws from the MNR.
Burning without a permit could get costly. Although the maximum fine for do so is only $2,000, a person also can be held financially responsible for any damage caused by the fire plus the cost of putting it out.
“You could be looking at some serious dollars,” Chief Johnson warned, noting if a waterbomber has to be called in, the cost can jump to more than $35,000.
Although the municipal bylaws don’t take effect for two weeks, Chief Johnson said MNR regulations take over for the other months of the year.
And since the municipal bylaws are almost identical to MNR regulations, the rules don’t change much for people wanting to burn now.
“You have to take the same precautions while burning,” he stressed.
Burning times for the month of April in Emo have been set for 5 p.m. to midnight.
The start time moves to 6 p.m. in May, and to 7 p.m. in June and July, then back to 6 p.m. in August, 5:30 p.m. in September, and 4:30 p.m. in October.