INNISFAIL – Firefighters from the Innisfail Fire Department are coming off a busy weekend that had them responding to four large wildfires outside of town.
On Saturday and Sunday last weekend Innisfail firefighters were asked to assist neighbouring fire departments as far away as in the Raven area to battle wildfires that were ignited by dry, unseasonably warm, and windy spring conditions.
Innisfail Fire Department Chief Gary Leith said last weekend’s wildfires took “significant portions of time” to bring under control, noting one on Saturday had firefighters at the scene for eight to 10 hours.
“The Sunday calls were four or five hours,” said Leith. “One unit was out from two in the afternoon until midnight, and in between those calls we had motor vehicle collisions and also a request for assistance from EMS. Yes, it has been busy.”
What was worse, said Leith, was that weather and ground conditions made firefighting “quite challenging.
“Everything is dry, not really green yet, so it burns a lot easier,” said Leith. “It's driven by these current wind systems we had over the weekend where they’ve been 20 to 30 kilometres per hour.
“They were driving from the southwest and at great speed, and obviously the dry conditions make it significantly more challenging.”
He said one of the weekend wildfires was located about five kilometres east of Innisfail, while the three others were out west, with the largest located in the Raven area.
On all four calls the Innisfail Fire Department was asked to support neighbouring fire departments, including those with Red Deer, Mountain View and Clearwater counties.
Leith said one local firefighter injured his ribs from a fall and sustained smoke inhalation issues. He said the firefighter was taken to hospital as a “precautionary” measure.
In the meantime, Leith said the long range weather forecast for the region is giving him cause for concern.
“We have some elements of precipitation forecast for Saturday, potentially Sunday, but it's not a huge amount,” said Leith. “We need several days of consistent rain to turn it around and reduce the current fire risk, and that long range forecast currently is still temperatures above normal with limited amount of precipitation.”
He said all of last weekend’s wildfires outside of Innisfail were battled by all 25 members of the Innisfail Fire Department at one time or another, which caused additional concern the town itself could be vulnerable if an unforeseen incident should take place.
To mitigate that potential risk, Leith issued a fire ban on May 2 for the Town of Innisfail.
Leith said the reason for the fire ban is to reduce the risk to the public and town, noting that while the wildfires are taking place Innisfail firefighters still have to respond to medical calls, motor vehicle collisions, and incidents at residential properties.
“When our firefighters are out for eight to 10 hours dealing with a wildfire they're not here in town and able to respond to calls that could be impacting lives,” he said. “I guess we can call in our neighbours to support those but again because of the size of these particular fires we're stretched pretty thin, so the fire ban will hopefully reduce that risk.”
Under the Innisfail fire ban, described by Leith as a “precautionary measure," residents are not permitted to burn outside, even in designated fire pits.
This measure includes charcoal barbecues and recreational fires.
The ban applies to public and private property.
Fires fuelled by propane or natural gas are still permitted, provided they are contained within approved cooking or heating appliances.
Use of catalytic or infrared-style heaters is also still permitted.
Fires that are used for operational purposes and are contained within industrial facilities are permitted under the ban
Use of catalytic or infrared-style heaters is also still permitted.
On May. 1, Red Deer County issued its own fire ban that ordered that all outdoor fires currently burning in the rural municipality be extinguished immediately.
The ban also prohibits any new outdoor fires.
No new fire permits will be issued during the ban, which does not apply to fires contained within industrial facilities for operational purposes or those contained within cooking and heating appliances.
The county ban also does apply to approved gas/propane fuelled fire pits/stoves/barbecues, and catalytic or infrared-style heaters.
