KENORA – The fire department for this city on the Lake of the Woods is reminding residents that open-air burning in the municipality requires a permit.
David Pratt, chief of Kenora Fire and Emergency Services, defined open-air burning as most types of fire “outside of a fireplace.”
The city’s website says “a burn permit is required for all outside burning” but all such permits would be considered cancelled in the event of a city-wide fire ban.
People can apply for burn permits, which cost $15 and are effective for an entire calendar year, at city hall.
Burn permits are issued under Bylaw 71-2016, which states that no one may “set any outdoor fire in the City of Kenora, except for a campfire, unless such person is the holder of a valid fire permit.”
Campfires are defined in the bylaw as small fires “for cooking, warmth or entertainment at a campsite or at a residential property.”
Pratt said in an interview Wednesday that he hopes to have the bylaw updated because “things change over time.”
“For example,” he explained, “if somebody wants to do a religious fire, like for First Nations – to me that’s not considered open burning, that’s their God-given right to do that. We just ask them to tell us (ahead of time).
“That should be addressed in the open-air burning bylaw,” he said. “It should say they’re permitted to do this provided (they follow rules for) containment, extinguishment, etc.
“Just things like that where I’d like to tidy up the language.”
Kenora firefighters responded to a couple of blazes along the city’s “wildland-urban interface” recently, Pratt said.
Sparks from a burn barrel caused a grass and bush fire near Ritchie Road on Saturday.
Firefighters doused a small fire behind a school two days later.
No injuries were reported in either incident.
“Remember, if you’re planning any outdoor burning, it must be supervised, and you need to have an adequate source of extinguishment on site,” the fire department said in a May 13 Facebook post, which said questions can be directed to the local fire hall at 807-467-2090.
