Spring can be a very dangerous time of the year as people enjoy the first outdoor fires of the season. (File Photo/ Dreamstime.com)

By Ronald Quaroni

Fire rules

P.A. Fire Department urges safety for those enjoying a spring fire

Apr 9, 2019 | 11:55 AM

Following a weekend callout to a ‘party fire,’ members of the Prince Albert Fire Department hope fire safety is a top priority for residents.

Battalion Chief Alex Paul said party fires are sometimes lit in Little Red River Park using twigs, leaves and branches and are usually not in an approved fire pit.

“There’s nothing containing them to a particular area,” Paul said. “Depending on the surface material that you’re lighting the fire on, it can get into roots of trees and spread underground and transfer it to a different area.”

He added burning at this time of year is riskier.

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“Before the grass starts to green up, that’s when it is most volatile in terms of grass and brush fires, before we have some rainfall,” Paul said. “We would ask people not to burn during (this time of year) especially not in areas that are out of the city limits that are on fringe areas, close to bush.”

Paul said a little prevention goes a long way, even if it is in your backyard.

“We don’t want to see anyone leaving a fire unattended,” Paul told paNOW. “One never knows when the wind might pick up. In the evening when you’re done with your fire in your backyard, even if it is in an approved pit, we want to see people extinguishing those fires.”

Prince Albert fire pit bylaws require residents in the city to use a fire pit, made of non-combustible materials, no bigger than 75 cm, and to use a heavy gauge screen with openings no bigger than 13 mm.

Appropriate burning material for your backyard fire includes cut, seasoned wood. Some materials residents should avoid include rubbish, treated or painted lumber or anything that will give off black smoke.

The bylaw also states if a fire is a nuisance for another person they will be required to extinguish it.

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ron.quaroni@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @RonaldQuaroni