The extremely hot weather that has hit southern Ontario over the last month has led to a fire ban across Wellington County and a call for improved water conservation.
“Due to the extreme dryness of all vegetation” in the county, on July 20 county fire coordinator Brad Patton, Fire Chief of the Centre Wellington Fire Department, announced all open air fires are prohibited “until further notice” in all seven lower tier municipalities.
Patton could not be reached for comment and Tom Mulvey, Public Safety Officer with the Centre Wellington Fire Department, was unsure how long the ban would be in place.
“Until we have a significant amount of rainfall,” Mulvey told the Advertiser.
That could be some time, considering temperatures are expected to be over 30 degrees Celsius (with the humidex) every day at least into August, with July 28 being the only day this week with sustained rainfall in the forecast.
According to the Grand River Conservation Authority, the only significant rainfall this month was a storm that moved through the county on July 3, dropping about 15 to 25 millimetres of rain.
But other than that storm, most areas of the county have seen only a few millimetres of rain, whereas the average rainfall for July is about 80mm.
Provincial forest and wild-land fire indicators are all at extreme levels and Mulvey said the ban is part of an effort to prevent blazes like those spreading throughout northern Ontario.
While fire bans are common in the summer, county-wide bans are very rare.
The current ban applies to all open air fires, defined as any outdoor fires including bonfires, campfires, burn barrels, outdoor fireplaces and chimneys or others. The only exceptions to the ban are cooking fires, from noon to midnight, only within approved campgrounds.
The hot, dry weather over the last month has also led to a call for water conservation by the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA).
Communications manager Dave Schultz said Wellington County residents should avoid the possible urge to exceed local lawn watering restrictions due to the recent weather.
“We’re just encouraging people to stick to the bylaws and not do any unnecessary watering,” said Schultz.
Curtailing outdoor water use, which also includes washing vehicles, will be very beneficial for municipal water systems, he added.
Due to the wet winter and spring this year, water levels in the ground and in rivers with reservoirs (including Conestogo and Belwood Lakes) remain in good shape, Schultz explained.
If the dry spell continues, that could change, he added, but currently the bigger concern is rivers and streams without reservoirs, which are starting to feel the impact of the weather.
“We’re keeping a close eye on those,” he said.
The GRCA’s Low Water Response Team has instituted a Level 1 low water situation in the Whitemans Creek watershed, west of Brantford, which means water levels are at 70% of the normal rate and users are asked to cut consumption by 10%.
But Schultz said the GRCA has not declared a Level 1 situation anywhere within Wellington County.
GRCA officials have also offered some tips for farmers to help reduce consumption:
– arrange with neighbours to stagger irrigation times;
– pump at a lower rate over a longer period of time, and store water in a pond if possible;
– ensure equipment is running efficiently and not leaking; and
– minimize daytime irrigation to reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation.
With the pending grain harvest, fire officials are also encouraging farmers to exercise extreme caution with combining, as field fires can quickly overtake equipment and neighbouring crops and can spread into adjacent woodlands.
Anyone with questions or wanting an update on the fire ban should contact their local fire department or visit their municipality’s website. For information on possible GRCA low water situations, visit www.grandriver.ca.
