Due to unseasonable high temperatures and strong winds, The County of St. Paul No. 19 is under a fire advisory. St. Paul Fire Department Chief, Trevor Kotowich urges for the public’s help, “it’s extremely dry out there and we’re just urging all people in The County to be extremely careful with their fires.”
Kotowich continues to explain the fire advisory, “right now there is a fire restriction, which means there are no open burning allowed and new fire permits being issued.” Â Basically, only warming fires are permitted, continues Kotowich, “the only fires that we should be seeing are camp fires.”
In April, The St. Paul Fire Department dealt with a large fire in The County, which Kotowich says, “it has been put out, it was put out that week,” referring to the week of April 22nd, 2015. A fire of that magnitude did cause a lot of damage and there are residual effects, such as continuous monitoring, “we have been checking it routinely for hot spots and everything seems to be under control.” The cost of the fire was assessed at $19 000, which The County recently determined will be the responsibility of The St. Paul Grazing Reserve.
Kotowich says The St. Paul Fire Department was also very busy during the May Long, Victoria Day, weekend. “Right now, we’re just keeping our fingers crossed.”