Fire ban in effect for River Valley, city implements Level Two of extreme temperature protocol

With the current forecasted high temperatures in our city, there is now a fire ban in effect for the River Valley. Fire officials implemented the ban primarily because of the low humidity, gusting winds, and sweltering long range forecast.  

“With the continued hot, dry weather, we can see that the coulee’s and the river bottom, the fuels and grasses have been drying out and with the forecasted temperatures that we’re going to be seeing this weekend along with the low humidity and winds, it’s going to elevate the fire risk into extreme. So we’re doing this definitely as a precaution for now and, and there’s very little precipitation if any in the forecast coming up. So conditions will continue to be hot and dry,” said Kevin McKeown, Deputy Fire Chief, Lethbridge Fire & Emergency Services. 

Environment Canada issued a heat warning for Lethbridge and the city has moved into level two of their extreme temperature response protocol.   

“We are going to see some high temperatures this weekend, but they are going to start decreasing again once we get to the new week and Monday. So it will be a touch and go, but the biggest thing is just creating accesses for the community in terms of resourcing. One of the big things we want to highlight today (Friday) is just new in the city are the portable water stations that are attached to fire hydrants. So again, if you’re in the downtown core or in some of our parks where those exist, we encourage people to take opportunity of those, stay hydrated, of course, wearing light colored and lightweight clothing while you’re out there and avoiding peak times of twelve till noon,” said Luke Palmer, Emergency Management, City of Lethbridge.

If you are trying to beat the heat, the city recommends taking advantage of some cooler areas around the city including the mall or libraries.