Comment: Red Deer banned fires because of staffing.

My response to one individual: I can't make this any simpler. This fire ban is specific to Red Deer because that is the concern of the City of Red Deer. They do not impose fire bans in other cities or communities outside of their jurisdiction.

To clarify rather than confuse: "A fire restriction allows some fires but prohibits others, like wood campfires on public land, while a fire ban is a much stricter measure that prohibits most types of open fires, including backyard fire pits, fireworks, and certain other activities"

Your assumption that Red Deer and Lethbridge are the only ones affected is misleading. Yes, these two communities have imposed a 'ban' but many communities are experiencing restrictions at this time.

https://www.albertafirebans.ca/

This statement: "We’ve had far drier conditions and only had fire advisory or restrictions in place in the past." is also misleading. We had a fire BANS in the City of Red Deer: Late March 2020, September 2, 2022, and Early May to Early June 2023.

"Most of our firefighters are tasked with dealing with emergency medical situations because of the lack of ambulance staff ."

Misleading, again. That is there job. The new dynamic staffing was created in order to have "fire-medics". Alberta leads the country in this program that already exists in many US states.

The combination of fire fighters and medics had nothing to do with staffing levels. In the event of a fire - fire fighters are typically on scene before paramedics AND fire fighters can access hazardous life-threatening locations (like a building on fire with the threat of collapse) that paramedics aren't allowed to enter.

While there is a lack of ambulance staff (specific to that role) the City also put in the bid for 2 fire-medics and 12 temporary EMS staff this year (absolutely this is inadequate but as you noted EMS is short-staffed, it's not just in Red Deer).

You are misleading in many of your statements which does nothing to help the funding and staffing plight of our RDES.


Further comments and clarification pointed out that the fire ban doesn't prohibit BBQs, so it's only about open burning and fireworks (both of which have proven track records of abuse when you combine a long weekend, explosives, dry conditions, and the potential for alcohol consumption).