Nipissing First Nation has partially lifted its fire ban and "will allow backyard fires only for families to enjoy," effective immediately.
Nipissing First Nation Chief Scott McLeod and Council approved lifting the ban within Nipissing First Nation boundaries. Residents may still have sacred fires for ceremonial purposes as well.
NFN asks residents to continue to observe social distancing to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 while enjoying a backyard fire.
"This means not having gatherings in your home or backyard with people who don’t live in your household," reminds NFN Fire Services. "Fires for burning grass, leaves, brush and large pieces of wood are still not allowed at this time."
Meanwhile, there is no fire ban reprieve for most northern Ontarians as the May long weekend approaches.
See: All of northern Ontario under fire restrictions
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is assessing the fire zone restriction on a daily basis, but fire risk is not the leading factor in whether or not restrictions are lifted.
Shayne McCool, fire information officer with the MNRF told Village Media, "The restriction will remain in place until further notice and we're regularly monitoring our capacity at the emergency response level and how it relates to COVID-19."
Human activity is responsible for approximately half of fires across Ontario and McCool said the focus on physical distancing is forcing the MNRF to reduce the risk of those fires as much as possible.
"If we can take that 50 per cent and reduce that so that our responders are not being tied up by human-caused fires, that will reduce the impacts of our frontline staff coming in contact with the public," said McCool.
"By reducing human-caused fires we keep our response capability strong and our ability to continue to respond to fires in the days and weeks ahead."
- NFN is asking fire-burning residents to follow these safety parameters:
- Use extreme caution when having your backyard fire to make sure it does not get out of control.
- Build fires where they will not spread; well away from tents, trailers, dry grass, leaves, overhanging tree branches or any other combustible.
- Keep fires in fire pits that are more than 1 metre (3 feet) high by 1 metre (3 feet) in diameter.
- Use crumpled paper and/or kindling to start a fire rather than using flammable liquids.
- Never build a fire on a windy day. Sparks or embers from the fire could travel quite a distance setting an unintentional fire.
- Don’t burn garbage or any leaves in your fire. The smell is unpleasant for your neighbours and may attract animals to your yard and neighbourhood.
- Never leave fires unattended. Ensure that a responsible adult is monitoring the fire at all times.
- Keep a garden hose ready and available, and also a shovel around to douse the fire when you’re done. Use caution when applying water to the fire. Once the water has been applied, stir the dampened coals and douse it again with water. As an added precaution, shovel sand or dirt to cover the dampened coals to smother any remaining embers.
With files from Matt Durnan, Sudbury.com
