The Estevan Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) received a report of a backyard fire Monday evening.
The call came in at about 6:30 p.m. When crews arrived at the location at the 1200-block of Seventh Street in the back alley, there was no actual backyard fire. Indeed one of the residents was having a fire in a firepit, which shouldn’t have been a problem at this point with no fire bans in place in the area. However, further investigation showed that the person didn’t have a proper firepit permit to legally burn within the city limits. Besides, the pit didn’t have a screen on it.
“He was asked to extinguish the fire immediately, which he was more than obliged to do. And he was into the office to formally apply for the firepit permit to safely burn,” said Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
The original report stated that the person was burning leaves in the backyard. Even though it turned out to be false, the fire chief reminded the public that burning leaves, small branches and other small and light refuse is prohibited within the city limits.
“Leaves and very, very small twigs and branches are highly likely to migrate away from the burning appliance and start small or spot fires in neighbouring properties. That’s why all that stuff needs to be collected and properly disposed out at the landfill,” said Feser.
The use of the screen on firepits is also obligatory as it ensures that no ambers fly out of the pit.
Another call for the fire department came in on Tuesday night at about 8 p.m. Firefighters were alerted to the report of a natural gas leak by Highway 39 east on the way to North Portal, near the coal haul road overpass.
Upon arrival, crews found a SaskEnergy substation and picked up a mild smell of natural gas. Firefighters did a standby to make sure that nobody was around the area until SaskEnergy specialists arrived. They confirmed that it was a faulty pressure relief valve that was on the site. SaskEnergy took over the scene, did the repair and deemed the site safe after that.
The EFRS also reminds everyone that if people are planning to have controlled burns in the area in the near future, they first should check the provincial models for the fire weather index. On April 23, the southeast corner of the province was coloured yellow, meaning high risk.
“It means for all those individuals out there doing controlled burns to exercise caution when doing so, making sure you are calling in to reported controlled burn line, be very observant of the winds. If you are going to do any burning, you want to do it early in the morning or later in the evening. And if something happens when it looks like it is getting out of your control, don’t hesitate and call 911 so we can get out there,” said Feser.
