Deputy Fire Chief Matt Musclow says the start to summer has gone smoother than the beginning of summer last year.
With the daytime burn ban still in effect, he wants to remind residents who are starting fires before 7 AM or after 7 PM when the ban isn’t in place to be safe. Musclow says if you burn at night you need to make sure you have water nearby, have hand tools available to help control the fire and suggests keeping the fire small. “Sometimes we get some false calls where someone believes it’s an out of control fire, but it was just left unattended,” Musclow adds. That’s why he says to always have someone keeping an eye on the fire.
Musclow always notes the importance of making sure you properly dispose of your cigarette butts. “Don’t put your cigarette butts in the grass,” he says. The best place to put them is in a cigarette butt receptacle or on a hard surface like pavement and to make sure you stomp it out as well.
“Most people you speak to who have experienced a forest or campfire get away from them, they all comment on how quickly it spreads,” he adds. With the hot and dry conditions North Hastings has, it only adds to the danger of a fire getting out-of-control.
The daytime burn ban is in effect in Bancroft from 7 AM to 7 PM.