Fort Sask Fire

🌮⚡Warmer weather means we can also see severe weather. A quick way to remember the difference between Watches and Warnings: one means be ready, the other means act now.

Emergency Preparedness Tip: Make sure you have multiple ways to receive weather and emergency alerts when you’re outdoors.

⛈️New this summer storm season: colour-coded weather alerts are now in use by Environment Canada.

🟡YELLOW: Hazardous weather may cause minor, localized impacts such as short-term disruption. Most common.

🟠ORANGE: Severe weather likely to cause major, widespread impacts that may last several days. Uncommon.

🔴🌪️ RED: Very dangerous, potentially life-threatening weather with extensive, long-lasting impacts. Rare.

Know the colour, understand the risk, and stay prepared.

Learn more: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/severeweather/weather-alerts/colour-coded-alerts.html

One cigarette butt is all it takes to start a serious fire in dry conditions. 🔥

With warm, dry weather increasing fire risk, improperly discarded smoking materials can quickly ignite grass, mulch, or other combustible materials.

Plant pots are not ashtrays. Many potting soils contain peat moss, bark, and other organic materials that can insulate a cigarette butt instead of extinguishing it, allowing it to smoulder unnoticed for hours before igniting.

Help reduce the risk:
• Never throw cigarette butts from vehicle windows
• Don’t dispose of smoking materials in planters, mulch beds, or dry grass
• Use proper ashtrays or metal containers with sand
• Keep planters watered and remove dead plant material regularly
• Ensure smoking materials are fully extinguished before disposal

🔥 FireSmart Your Home & Property 🔥

Grassfires and wildfires don’t just threaten rural areas—they can happen within and around urban communities too. In many cases, homes ignite not from direct flame, but from wind-blown embers landing on vulnerable materials around the property.

That’s why the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ) surrounding your home is so important for reducing risk, even in the city.

Start close to your home and work outward:

🏠 Immediate Zone (0 – 1.5 metres)
Create a non-combustible buffer to reduce ember ignition risk:
• Maintain a 1.5 metre non-combustible surface around your home
• Clear vegetation and combustible materials
• Avoid woody shrubs and trees close to structures

🌿 Intermediate Zone (1.5 – 10 metres)
Reduce pathways for fire to reach your home:
• Use fire-resistant plants and non-combustible landscaping materials
• Avoid bark mulch and other woody debris
• Store firewood, patio furniture, and building materials away from the home

🌲 Extended Zone (10 – 30 metres)
Help reduce fire intensity near your property:
• Maintain at least 3 metres between evergreen tree crowns where possible
• Prune branches to a minimum height of 2 metres from the ground
• Regularly remove dry grass, needles, and fallen branches

Learn more: https://firesmartalberta.ca/at-home

🔥 Off-Highway Vehicles (OHVs) and Fire Risk 🔥

With dry, warm conditions, fire risk is elevated—and OHVs can unintentionally spark grassfires or wildfires. Exhaust systems can reach over 200°C, which can ignite built-up debris like grass, moss, and muskeg. As you ride, this material can fall off, smoulder, and start a fire.

Reduce the risk while riding:

• Clean your machine before and after use
• Remove debris from hot spots, especially after riding through tall grass or muskeg
• Ensure muffler and spark arrestor are working properly
• Carry basic fire tools (shovel, pail, or extinguisher)
• Stop regularly to check for and fully extinguish any smouldering material

A few simple steps can prevent a serious fire in dry conditions. MORE: https://www.alberta.ca/off-highway-vehicle-safety

Fort Saskatchewan and Strathcona County emergency crews are currently responding to two residential structure fire situations in the area of 99 Avenue and 88 Street.

Residents are asked to avoid the area and use alternate routes while emergency crews work on scene.

At this time, there are no reports of injuries. Thank you for your cooperation.