ATHABASCA - With officials thoroughly inundated with matters related to COVID-19, having another large-scale emergency on their hands is the last thing they need.
With that in mind, the Alberta government declared a fire ban in all Forest Protection Areas, provincial parks and protected areas in the province as of April 15, and area municipalities followed suit with their own restrictions soon after.
Currently, Athabasca County is under a full fire ban, along with the town. Westlock County and County of Barrhead have both put fire restrictions in place.
Alberta’s wildfire season officially begins March 1, peaking in April and May, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Devin Dreeshen told a press conference April 14.
“That’s why we’re taking these measures to reduce the fire risk that we’re going to have this year because the province will most likely be battling multiple natural disasters all at once,” he said.
As Dreeshen took to the podium for his announcement that day, Athabasca County council was discussing a fire ban of its own.
“This province is so diverse and if we’ve got an issue here and they don’t one wherever else, and we’re in a crisis situation and we have to poke the province to put in place a fire ban, it could be a little late for us,” Armfelt said.
CAO Ryan Maier noted the county has been denying fire permit requests for brush piles and windrows outside the Forest Protection Area since March 24 and would not be extending those that are currently active.
A majority of councillors agreed they would like to see the county declare its own fire ban when it sees fit. Coun. Doris Splane told her counterparts she would prefer to have public works involved before council acts, and that is what council decided to do, seeing as a public works meeting was scheduled for the next week.
At that April 21 meeting, the county fire ban was made official, said Athabasca County regional fire chief Sheldon Schoepp, noting that much of the county is already in the Forest Protection Area.
“The fire ban the province put into place states there are to be no fires whatsoever, with the exception of gas or propane appliances, and that falls exactly into line with the county,” he said.
Schoepp said that even though there is still currently a lot of moisture in the ground, it can dry up quickly and provide the conditions a fire needs to start and quickly get out of control.
“We just want to be proactive,” he said. “There is tons of water moving, but that could be gone within two or three weeks. A week-and-a-half ago, there was still snow in the fields, and now it’s all stubble.”
The fire ban covers all open fires on public or private land, including burn barrels, fireworks, exploding targets and charcoal barbeques.
In its initial announcement of the fire ban, the province also instituted an off-highway vehicles (OHV) ban as well, but lifted the order next day. As such, Athabasca County didn’t find it necessary to go forward with its own OHV ban, although that decision will be revisited regularly.
In Westlock County and County of Barrhead, many of the same restrictions apply, except back yard fire pits are allowed provided they are at least three metres away from buildings, property lines and other combustible material.
“We’re hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst,” said Shoepp.
Chris Zwick,TownandCountryToday.com
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