MOUTAIN VIEW COUNTY - With hot and dry conditions continuing across the region, Mountain View County has put a fire restriction in place effective immediately, officials said Monday.
The restriction will remain in place until further notice, said the county's chief administrative officer Jeff Holmes.
In accordance with Section 8.02 of Mountain View County’s Fire Bylaw, only the following activities are permitted under a fire restriction:
• The cooking of food using a barbecue.
• Any fire set by fire services for the purposes of training.
• Any fire for which a district fire chief determines in their absolute discretion does not require a fire permit.
• Fire that are fuelled by compressed gas, ie: propane torches, oxygen/acetylene torches.
• Fires in an acceptable fire pit or acceptable fireplace, provided only clean fuel is used such as natural gas, dry wood or charcoal in amounts which will be contained within the fire pit or fireplace below the mesh screen.
The acceptable fire pit or acceptable fireplace is not to be used to burn prohibited debris.
A means, acceptable to the county's fire services, of controlling or extinguishing the fire must be available on the property and within reasonable distance from where the fire occurs.
The fire is to be kept under control and supervised at all times by a responsible adult person until such time that the fire has been completely extinguished.
The flame height cannot not exceed one metre above the structure or container.
All current fire and firework permits are cancelled immediately, and no new fire or firework permits will be issued until the fire restriction has been lifted.
A portion of the county is already under a fire ban. All fires are banned in the province's forest protection area. Some of the county's westside is in the Rocky Moutain House Forest Protection Area.
At the time Mountain View County enacted its fire restriction, none of the urban centres like Olds, Sundre, Didsbury or Carstairs had enacted any restrictions.
