A complete fire ban is currently in effect for the RM of Vanscoy #345.
The fire ban, which includes the entire rural municipality (but does not include the Town of Delisle or the Village of Vanscoy) was implemented on Monday, May 4.
Delisle Deputy Fire Chief Darcy Parker said the fire ban was put in place due to extreme fire conditions.
“We had a fire southwest of Delisle yesterday that took us six hours to put out,” noted Parker in an interview on May 4. “The fire was caused by a power line that came away from a pole.”
The fire spread quickly through dry vegetation because of extremely strong winds. Parker noted that while the ground is dry on top, it’s wet underneath the surface, which makes it difficult for firefighting vehicles to maneuver effectively.
Parker said fire bans in the RM of Vanscoy during the early spring are not uncommon.
“It’s an annual thing,” he said. “The dates will vary, depending on weather and soil conditions, but it’s a precaution that needs to be put in place every year.”
Parker said he expects there may be more RMs implementiung fire bans in the near future.
The fire ban in the RM of Vanscoy prohibits all outdoor fires, including: “no agricultlural or commercial burning, open burning, fireworks, burning barrels or fire pits/campfires and incinerators of all kinds,” according to the notice posted on the official RM of Vanscoy website. The fire ban will remain in place until further notice.
An interactive map of municipal fire bans, which is updated daily, is available online at the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) website (https://www.saskpublicsafety.ca/at-home/fire-bans-at-home).