Dufferin County fire ban lifted following significant rainfall

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dufferin County Fire Chiefs have lifted a county-wide fire ban following a significant amount of rainfall in the area. 

Shelburne & District Fire Chief Ralph Snyder issued an update last Thursday (June 15) indicating that the fire ban had been lifted.

The Fire Danger Rating and Open-Air Burning Restriction Summary noted that the fire risk rating had been dropped to ‘moderate' for most of the county, with a ‘low' risk rating in the Town of Orangeville. The ‘moderate' danger rating means that there is an increased risk of surface fires starting and that residents should carry out any fire activities with caution while adhering to their local open burn bylaw. 

Fire Chiefs at Dufferin County fire departments initially raised concerns about high fire danger at the beginning of June due to ongoing dry and hot weather conditions. 

The decision to enact the high fire danger level was made by a group of fire chiefs from local departments, including Grand Valley, Shelburne, Orangeville, Mulmur/Melancthon, and Rosemont. 

A week after raising the fire danger level to high, the working group of Fire Chiefs announced the immediate issuing of a county-wide fire ban, which prohibited all open-air burnings. 

In a June 8 press release from Dufferin County Fire Chiefs, they said the decision came after particularly dry weather conditions in the Dufferin area and limited rainfall, along with an air quality warning for the region due to smoke from wildfires in Ontario and Quebec.

As on June 15, the county-wide fire ban has been lifted. 

The wildfire or forest fire season in Canada commonly runs from May to September.