(file photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Wildfires

Melfort Fire Chief urges to obey fire bans when in place

Apr 24, 2019 | 5:04 PM

The City of Melfort’s Fire Chief is making sure everyone stays safe when it comes to open fires in the province.

Jason Everitt said that with conditions the way they are in the province, and the wildfires that have already burned, people need to obey fire bans when in place.

“It’s for their protection,” Everitt told northeastNOW. “Not only for their safety as well as their property and their neighbours, but also the safety of the first responders that would be called to action a fire in very dry, brittle, and dangerous conditions as we’re seeing across the province now.”

Causes for the fires could be anything from a controlled burn that got away, to an ATV that released some carbon in a field with lots of loose dry grass, or even a wrongly discarded cigarette.

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“It can be attributed to human activity,” Everitt said. “And then there’s of course the accidental ones, such as a power line contacting a tree, or things along those lines that aren’t really considered humans caused, but do give us grief from time to time no doubt.”

Everitt said as a department, they have to keep an eye on the humidity, and the temperatures on a daily basis. He said for the time being, the City of Melfort is in alright shape for fire risk.

“There’s not a fire ban currently in place,” Everitt said. “The risk within the city is fairly low right now, so we’re going to leave it as is, and monitor it accordingly.”

Everitt also mentioned that for those who want to keep an eye on the situation in the province, Sask Environment has a fire map, and if anyone is thinking about doing a controlled burn, call the Provincial Controlled Burn Line at 1-866-404-4911.

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matbarrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6