A fire ban was issued for the town of Okotoks at 8 a.m. on May 5.
Dry conditions in the area had fire services considering reinstating its fire advisory, which was lifted last week, but the situation in northern Alberta led to a full fire ban.
“It was on our radar anyway to put on an advisory first, because of the dryness in the area,” said Okotoks fire chief Ken Thevenot. “But we decided on a full ban instead to help manage our risk in our area to assist with efforts Fort McMurray.”
Reducing the risk in Okotoks and area will allow fire services from the region to focus on the wildfire at Fort Mac, should they get the call to help from the Alberta Fire Commission, he said.
“We don’t want to put our region at risk and cause any incident that could draw away from efforts in Fort McMurray,” said Thevenot. “We all have to do our part to minimize risk.”
Other municipalities in southern Alberta have also issues fire bans to limit risk of burning, he said, including the MD of Foothills, High River, Vulcan County, Lethbridge and the MD of Willow Creek.
All fire bans are in effect until further notice.
