Despite dry and windy conditions that prompted a fire advisory in Sturgeon County, the city has no plans to restrict backyard fire pits or other burning activities.
Sturgeon County issued a fire advisory Thursday, the first step toward a full ban. It means the county will no longer issue new fire permits, though existing ones will remain in place, albeit with specific conditions that must be followed.
Strong winds that ripped through the region are a major reason for the advisory.
"The wind is playing a bit of havoc with us and the conditions are certainly dry so people just have to be careful," said Sturgeon fire Chief Pat Mahoney.
Mahoney said having a permit is one step, but residents with permits need to make sure they are following all the conditions and burning safely.
Residents have been mostly responsible, but the fires crews have responded when people weren't careful, he said.
"The calls we responded to have either been because of negligence of the person who didn't follow the conditions or it is has been people burning without a permit or we have several that were suspicious in nature."
Though much of Sturgeon County still has standing water in the fields, large parts are also very dry and limiting fire permits helps the county limit risk.
Sturgeon firefighters have battled several small fires over the last few days, including three separate blazes that broke out Thursday around Lost Point Lake Estates and another Tuesday night near Redwater.
"We don't want to add any more risk than we already have," Mahoney said.
Strathcona County has taken the action one step further issuing a full fire ban suspending all of their existing fire permits.
Right now Sturgeon County doesn't plan on implementing a full ban, but it is an option.
"It is a possibility, we are going to continue to monitor the conditions."
Conditions normal in St. Albert
In St. Albert the situation is better and the city hasn't seen many fires, according to deputy Chief Bernd Gretzinger.
"We have no fire ban in the city right now other than the requirement that people have a permit for their fire pit."
He said the department would continue to monitor the situation, but right now it is not a major issue.
