Fire officials continue to keep a close eye on Alberta’s warm and dry conditions

It may still be technically winter, but fire officials in the province are already on high alert given the warm and dry conditions plaguing parts of the province.

As of Tuesday morning, three fire bans have been enacted in Lethbridge, Lethbridge County and the M.D. of Crowsnest Pass.

At this stage, there are no plans to initiate a ban around Calgary but that hasn’t stopped officials from being prepared.

“We’re assessing the conditions on a day to day basis and our Fire Marshall will make that decision, on whether it’s in Calgarians’ best interest to have a fire ban or not,” said Calgary Fire Department Public Information Officer Carol Henke.  “Typically how grass fires start or residential fires, typically it’s accidental; cigarettes, smoking materials improperly disposed of.   And due to the dry conditions, the dry grasses, the dry vegetation, lack of moisture, that’s how the fire starts so a fire ban typically wouldn’t impact those kinds of fires.”

“In the forested areas of Southern Alberta, the fire hazard is moderate but it is higher in the dry grass areas,” said Alberta Wildfire Information Officer Janelle Lane. “What we find often in the spring, is the snow will melt and it won’t actually get into the ground because it’s still frozen and that creates really dry conditions and in those conditions a fire can spread really quickly.”

“Last March, we had 11 wildfires in just the month of March.  It just goes to show, despite snow on the ground, wildfires can still occur,” said Lane, who adds they’re asking the public to help by getting a fire permit.

Provincial crews are already on duty in Calgary and the local station has requested more boots on the ground.

“In the Morley area, there will be some prescribed fires going on.   What that does is we’re able to manage a little patch of fire where we can burn off some of that grass that’s really dry.  That way in the summer, that grass isn’t there,” Lane said. “It’s partly to protect the community and also to use these conditions to our advantage right now.”

The burn is expected to continue until March 20th but she warns it’s all dependent on the weather.

Even with fire officials keeping a close eye on the situation, Henke adds they still need the public to be vigilant.

“We want people to be very careful.  A big problem is people throwing their cigarette butts out the window.  They roll around and they wind up on a grassy boulevard and can start a fire very quickly.  Especially when the grasses are very dry, there’s dry leaves around, it doesn’t take very long.  The real danger as well is people’s homes:  If you’re smoking outside, make sure you have an appropriate ashtray that is non-combustible, that’s heavy, has a small mouth and is very deep, with sand and water in it so cigarette butts are property extinguished.”

She says throwing a cigarette butt into a planter, garden or in the grass is very dangerous and can start a fire.

To see more on the current fire bans and advisories in place, click here.