A St. Albert fire inspector is urging residents to respect Alberta’s outdoor fire ban after someone intentionally started a fire in a forest near Albert Lacombe School.
About seven St. Albert firefighters used a fire truck and the department’s UTV to extinguish a brush fire in a forested area near Albert Lacombe School Friday afternoon.
The fire was reported at about 2:39 p.m. in a patch of aspen trees about two football-fields from the backside of the school, said St. Albert fire inspector Les Mroz. It affected about 400 square feet of forest.
His investigation found that the fire was likely deliberately set (as there were no discarded cigarette butts or other accidental ignition sources such as natural gas, electricity, or lightning nearby) and fuelled by the copious amount of poplar seed fluff in the area.
“It’s just like putting cotton batten or paper on the ground,” Mroz said of the fluff – it’s extremely flammable, and can easily cause secondary fires in dried vegetation.
The fire produced plenty of smoke along Gainsborough Ave. and damaged a city garbage can, Mroz said. Albert Lacombe students were largely unaffected, as they were just about ready to go home anyway, but were asked to leave through the front door instead of the back as a precaution.
It’s not unusual for the city to see intentionally set fires such as this one along the Red Willow Trail, Mroz said. St. Albert saw a string of about 13 such fires in two months last year involving dumpsters, playground sets, and two abandoned homes.
The Albert Lacombe fire was one of a number of illegal fires that happened in the St. Albert region since the province brought in a total ban on outdoor fires last Thursday.
Mroz said St. Albert fire crews responded to 11 reports of outdoor fire pits being used (four of which were legal uses, as they employed propane or natural gas burners) and a very small grass fire off Larose Drive over the weekend.
Sturgeon County fire services responded to two illegal backyard fire pits, one illegal campfire along the North Saskatchewan River, and one brush fire over the weekend, county fire chief Pat Mahoney said in an email. The brush fire was a previously extinguished blaze that had re-ignited due to strong winds. There was also a grain silo that caught fire due to its old contents and the high heat.
Morinville fire chief Brad Boddez said there had not been any violations of the town’s fire ban over the weekend.
Mahoney and Mroz asked all residents to respect the ban on outdoor fires.
“Even though we are experiencing some cooler temperatures and light showers, conditions will remain very dry and vulnerable to fire until a substantial rain occurs,” Mahoney said.
Mroz urged residents to be extra cautious about discarding cigarette butts, and to keep their lawns and gardens properly irrigated and clear of dead trees and debris.
Outdoor fires in St. Albert are banned unless they are inside liquid-or-gas-fuelled barbecues or industrial facilities, Mroz said.
Anyone who otherwise starts a fire in St. Albert during this ban could be fined up to $10,000.
The province also banned all recreational use of off-highway vehicles on public lands as of last Friday. Those vehicles can still be used for agricultural, commercial, or enforcement purposes, and by indigenous persons exercising traditional treaty rights.
