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Smoke from the English Fire on May 18, nearly 20 km away from the Village of Smeaton. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)
Lifted Fire Bans

R.M. and Town of Nipawin lift fire bans

May 22, 2020 | 12:00 PM

While the English Creek fire remains active, two nearby communities have lifted their respective fire bans.

The Rural Municipality (R.M.) of Nipawin and Town of Nipawin lifted their fire bans on Friday less than a week after implementing them.

Nathalie Hipkins, administrator for the R.M. of Nipawin, said their reasoning was to assist the farmers to prepare for seeding season.

“It was a difficult decision to make,” Hipkins said. “We’ve been watching the daily fire index the province provides. Yesterday was low, and it is moderate today for our area. Farming is the biggest commodity in our area. This is something [the farmers] need to do; a lot of them need to burn their fields. All of them are very careful and they do their Fire Guard (training). We were weighing the two together.”

Timing was of the issue for farmers within the R.M. of Nipawin. Hipkins said one farmer wasn’t able to get his crop off last year and had no choice but to burn it and seed a new crop. If the fire ban were to last for an extended period, the farmer wouldn’t be able to seed.

As of May 21, the English Creek fire was at 41,900 hectares in size. Hipkins said the R.M. can implement the fire ban again if conditions become dire.

aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow

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