THUNDER BAY — The fire ban in place for Thunder Bay has been lifted.
Deputy fire chief Dave Tarini told Newswatch that, following the lead of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the ban in place in city limits was lifted as of 10 a.m. Friday.
“They're seeing a reduction in risk for wildfire hazard across areas of the region, particularly the Thunder Bay District, which led them to making that decision,” Tarini said.
“Resource availability also plays a slight factor in that decision, but it's mainly due to lowered risk because of the weather.”
He said local firefighters haven’t been getting as many calls recently about grass or brush fires in city limits.
“When you put a fire ban on, it's usually very effective in lowering the frequency of human-caused fires, which was the goal of the fire ban, and it was successful in that regard,” he said.
Tarini added that, while outdoor fires are again allowed, people still need to be cautious, they need a valid fire permit to do so, and they must abide by the restrictions on the permit.
“We basically reset the clock back to when there wasn't a fire ban, so all restrictions on any burning permits are still in play,” he said.
-With files from Sheri Leviski-Kotyk
