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Extreme wildfire risk across much of southern Alberta

There is an extreme wildfire risk across southern Alberta right now.

A stretch of very hot weather, coupled with virtually no rainfall in over three weeks has dried things out considerably. In fact, the last time the Lethbridge area recorded any precipitation was July 27th, so the entire month of August so far has been bone dry.

Lethbridge County issued a fire ban Monday (Aug. 17) as did Vulcan County with no burning allowed at all.

A fire ban remains for the Lethbridge River Valley area as well.

Fire restrictions meanwhile, have been issued this week in a number of other southern Alberta municipalities including the Town of Cardston, Cardston County, the MD of Pincher Creek, and MD of Willow Creek.

Because of the burning restrictions and bans in those areas, no fire permits will be issued until further notice.

Farmers across the region are also being asked to take extreme caution with their harvest operations as fires can easily be sparked by machinery in these current conditions.

More information on fire bans, restrictions, and advisories can be found on the Alberta Fire Bans website.

Patrick Siedlecki
Patrick Siedlecki
Pat has been a mainstay in the CJOC News department from the time the station launched in 2007. He's been in the position of News Director since then and has been anchoring daily news casts as well as reporting and working behind the scenes. Community is important to him and keeping CJOC listeners and readers informed about what's happening across southern Alberta and beyond. Pat has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years, starting in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in 1997 and then moving up island to Nanaimo for another few years before heading to Lethbridge in 2007. Pat grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town of Foam Lake. After high school, he went to Western Academy Broadcasting College (WABC) in Saskatoon prior to moving to the island. Pat also spent several years broadcasting hockey in the BCHL as well as seven years as the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Pat has been working at Cornerstone Funeral Home in Lethbridge as a Certified Life Celebrant and Funeral Assistant since 2016. News and sports have always been Pat's passion from the time he was a teenager and he's always been grateful to have had the opportunity to make that part of what's been a fun and long radio career!
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