The Town of Rocky Mountain House has declared a fire ban as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. All outstanding burning permits are suspended until further notice.
The ban applies to anything that produces an open flame. Only internal household fireplaces and liquid fuel barbecues (propane or gas) are allowed.
The ban came hours after Clearwater County, predicting a high number of campers this upcoming long weekend, declared a municipality-wide fire ban.
The fire ban is in support of the provincial one that was issued Monday in all forested areas across Alberta. It addresses the dry conditions and high to extreme hazard causing dangerous conditions that could lead to large-scale wild fires, stated Clearwater County in a news release.
The provincewide fire ban issued by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development also affects parts of Mountain View and Ponoka counties.
Red Deer, Stettler and Lacombe counties have yet to declare fire bans but continue to monitor the situation daily.
Since the beginning of April, firefighters with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development have responded to more than 270 wildfires, most of which were human caused.
More fire ban information is available online at albertafirebans.ca. To report a fire, call 310-FIRE.