Little Red River Park. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Vehicle access to Upper Plains in Little Red River Park being restricted

Apr 19, 2023 | 5:00 PM

The Prince Albert Fire Department (PAFD) is restricting vehicle traffic in the Upper East Plains of Little Red River Park for the foreseeable future.

This comes after a four-acre fire burnt part of the grassland and forest in the area.

“The fire risk, I can’t understate it,” said Fire Chief Kris Olsen. “The close calls we’ve had over the past five, six years have just been increasing.”

He added people are also abusing the area.

“There are people who are choosing to use it as a party spot, I can’t say it any nicer,” Olsen said. “Fireworks, bonfires, drinking, that evidence is all over there.”

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While this isn’t believed to be the cause of this latest fire, Olsen explained it’s only a matter of time before it does.

Before reopening for vehicle traffic, the PAFD wants to come up with a long-term solution to ensure this doesn’t continue and that the area is protected from potential fires. As for what this could look like, Olsen didn’t have any concrete answers.

Meanwhile, those who want to use the walking trails can still do so.

Olsen emphasized that walkers and bikers aren’t the reason they’re restricting vehicle access and they didn’t want to punish them for something they didn’t do.

However, they will have to find a parking spot away from the area and then walk or bike to the start of the trail.

“There are only two alternative locations and that’s to park down by the sliding hills which is quite a trek up and the other is the north parking lot which is on the northwest side of the park and there’s a connecting road that takes you to the plains,” added Olsen.

He also couldn’t say how long this would be in place.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow