The MD of Bonnyville is planning to bring forward a new law that will ban open fires near the Beaver River Trestle.
Council has given first reading to amendments to the fire services bylaw which would give Peace Officers and Fire personnel the authority to order anyone with an open flame within 100 metres of the trestle to put it out. If they don’t, the fire authority may do so themselves and charge the offender for the service.
Another amendment to the bylaw states that residents on rural property will be barred from starting fires to clear land on a property that is more than 75 percent developed. Council wanted this section of the law revised as someone on an undeveloped property could still start such a fire regardless of how close it is to a neighbour’s lot. Council asked for a rewrite taking this into consideration.
Neither law will be on the books until at least next MD council meeting when it comes back for second and third reading.
The Beaver River Trestle has had a bad relationship with fires. An arson burned it to the ground in 2012, requiring it to be rebuilt from scratch. It caught fire again back in May.