The rain on that fell on the Estevan area on Saturday was exactly what the city needed to reduce the local fire risk.
A fire ban that had been in effect for both the city and the rural municipality (RM) of Estevan was lifted on Sunday morning. The RM had enacted their fire ban on Aug. 12, and the city followed suit the next day.
During the fire ban, all open flame burning, fire pits, campfires and fireworks were banned.
“Due to the substantial amount of moisture that the area received here on Saturday, it’s actually dropped the fire hazard index down into manageable levels,” Estevan Fire and Rescue deputy Chief Dale Feser told the Mercury.
Estevan’s fire risk index was low as of Monday morning. When the burn ban was in effect, it was at high or extreme levels.
And the rate of spread has dropped from more than 26 m per minute to two metres per minute.
If a fire were to occur now, firefighters would be able to manage it at a decent level, Feser said, and fire crews would not be at risk.
Feser said the fire department will continue to monitor the situation. If Estevan has several consecutive days in which high temperatures and winds occur, then the moisture could dissipate from the vegetation, and the risk could be extreme once again.
“Once it gets up to the 18 to 26 metres per minute for spread – and this is without any wind – that’s when we look at reinstating fire bans,” said Feser.
When the fire risk is high and the winds are strong, a fire can move so quickly, it could jeopardize properties and even lives.
Feser said they had to respond to a couple of grass fires during the fire ban. The first was within city limits, and it was started by children playing with matches. The fire department was able to arrive on the scene fairly quickly and contain the fire before it threatened anybody`s home.
The other occurred north of the city. The wind conditions were low, and a work crew helped keep the fire at bay. It was extinguished without incident.
The public was very co-operative since the fire ban was enacted. The fire department and the police were called to only a few instances of people unwittingly having a fire, and once they were informed of the ban, the fires were put out.
The fire department did receive a lot of phone calls from people wondering when the fire ban would be lifted.
“It’s a big-time education project for us,” said Feser. “A lot of people don’t fully understand some of the data that’s taken into consideration.”
The fire department doesn’t like putting fire bans in place, because they understand the inconvenience. But Feser maintains it had to be done in the interest of public safety.
