With dry conditions and little rain expected in the area for at least 10 days, Cochrane’s fire ban could continue until the middle of August.
“We’re on really high alert right now,” Lt. Jeff Avery of Cochrane Fire Services said this week.
The Town of Cochrane has four fire hazard levels, each detailing a higher level of risk and stricter limitations of activities. Officials originally issued a fire advisory on July 6, asking residents to be extra cautious while barbecuing and roasting marshmallows in their backyards.
As hot summer weather blazed on, the advisory was upgraded on July 20 to a full fire ban to indicate “extreme fire danger,” with residents barred from any open flame, including campfires and charcoal briquettes, propane barbecues or fire tables. The full ban remains in effect.
The Village of Ghost Lake and all of Rocky View County are also currently under fire bans, with Waiparous under a fire restriction. On private lands around town, bush pile permits have also been revoked.
Avery said it’s unusual to see such hazardous conditions in the middle of summer, as fire bans are normally issued in the bare months of spring or in the fall, during grassfire season.
“This is really dry. I haven’t recalled seeing a lot of fire bans this time of year,” said the fire safety codes and public engagement officer.
Add to that, Environment Canada is predicting just one out of the next 10 days with a 30 per cent chance of precipitation, so Avery doesn’t expect the level of danger to come down. For the current fire ban to be lifted, he said Cochrane would need to see the grass getting green again, which will take “probably a good week of rain.”
Avery warned that people can be charged under the town’s Fire Services Bylaw with improper disposal of fire material for something as seemingly innocuous as tossing a cigarette butt into a flower bed or onto the roadway.
“All those are really recipes for disaster,” he said. “It could be just a cigarette butt. You don’t need to throw it out the window … People do not think that they could start a very large fire.”
Fines can reach as high as $10,000 plus court costs or jail time of up to six months for those found in breach. The minimum fine is $250.
Avery said the one exception for allowable open flame and sparks is on construction sites, which are required at any time of year to hold hot work permits for cutting, welding, grinding and other jobs using flammable or combustible materials.
