Fort Erie Fire Chief Mark Schmitt doesn’t see a fire ban being implemented in the near future.
Municipalities will often put one in place if conditions become extremely dry, which occurred back in 2018.
And in 2023, a ban was put in place as a result of poor air quality caused by wildfires in other parts of the country.
This summer has been a dry one, but not enough to tell residents they can’t have bonfires in their backyard, Schmitt told Fort Erie Radio on Tuesday.
He said “there’s been some conversations about it” within the fire department and with other fire services in the region, adding that West Lincoln appears to be strongly considering a ban due to a couple of large grass fires in that part of the peninsula.
But there have been “little spurts of rain” in Fort Erie, enough to not hit the panic button just yet.
“When I look at the vegetation, it’s still fairly green,” said Schmitt.
“It’s just in a few spots that it’s dried out,” he added.
Schmitt and his team are “keeping an eye on it at this point,” he told Fort Erie Radio.
When Environment Canada issues a heat warning, burning is not permitted. But the town doesn’t drive around looking for offenders when this is the case.
“We don’t go out and enforce it,” he said, adding that responses would be compliant based.
“If there’s another couple of weeks with no rain and high temperatures, we’d be talking more seriously about it,” said Schmitt.
Recreational fires are permitted in Fort Erie between 4 and 11 p.m., using only clean, dry firewood, while meeting size and distance requirements. Burning construction materials, brush, garbage, or yard waste is not allowed.
More information about local open-air burning rules can be found on the Town of Fort Erie’s website.