Warm temperatures and dry conditions make it peak time for accidental fires in Portage and surrounding area.

Portage fire chief Phil Carpenter says all attempts at fires should be avoided.

Phil Carpenter"Conditions are getting pretty dry in reference to vegetation over the winter. It's a dead plant that's out there. And we understand people want to do some cleanup with that, but now with these warmer temperatures are in place, and in particular the last weekend and today going to 30, it really dries things out more severely. The wind conditions are a also a factor in drying it out. You have to be really careful if you're doing any burning, and it's something we do not recommend."

He says they've been receiving several calls.

"It's been fairly steady. We had three calls yesterday (Wednesday). One was accidental, in the fact that the person was burning, and it got out of control on him. Another was accidental, where an all-terrain vehicle backfired catching the surrounding grass on fire, which in turn spread very quickly, and lost a building from it. Another one was a rekindled fire, I'll call it, where we were there before. Sometimes it's very hard to get out every single little tree, especially when it gets into the bush. And apparently it rekindled from that, and we had to attend to it again last night. So, those are some examples on why not to burn. Looking at the upcoming weather conditions, and as far as what the wind is doing, as you can well imagine, the wind is a huge factor with this. If conditions are dry and you're not prepared for that fire, and it does jump the road, or jump a lane, or get across a piece of land that you thought was safe, then it can travel at a fairly quick rate. And usually that's when people become overwhelmed. And that's why we're here of course. But just use your better judgment. And if you are going to do any burning, be prepared by creating a minimum six metre wide strip of land free of inflammable materials. Have a water supply on had. Always make sure that you supervise that fire. These are the more common components, we'll say, that when a person burns, will not have in place."

He says you can download apps to assist you with keeping up with wind direction. 

"The wind will change directions. Windfinder would be an app you could check. And winds do change directions. If that happens to occur, not long after you start a fire, then this fire is going to travel in a whole different direction than you anticipated it."

Carpenter notes you can be held liable if anybody else's property is destroyed by a fire you started. Fines can be implemented for fires that aren't controlled properly and have caused damages.

Carpenter says they're looking forward to the RM implementing a bylaw.

"Some municipalities have fire bans in place. At the present time we do not have the capability of implementing a fire ban for the RM of Portage. We are hopefully working toward getting a fire bylaw so that we would have the capabilities of implementing a burning ban. The RM council does not wish to have that. They are in control of the municipality, and that's the direction they've decided to go at this time."