Fort Smith moves to full fire ban within town boundary

Fort Smith residents are now barred from starting any open-flame fires, the town’s protective services division says.

While that’s unusually early for a full fire ban in an NWT community, it’s not drastically removed from last year, when the town had declared a similar ban by May 19.

“No open-flame fires are permitted within the municipal boundary,” the protective services division declared on Facebook.

Barbecues “may be used with extreme caution,” that message added.

The town had introduced a partial fire ban in mid-April, which prohibited some fires but allowed fires in approved backyard fire pits to continue. Those fires are now banned, too.

Fort Smith is extremely dry – drier even than it was at the start of 2023’s extraordinarily severe fire season.

While there’s some rain in Fort Smith’s forecast this week, most days are expected to be dry, sunny and a few degrees warmer than the average for this time of year, with highs reaching up toward 20C.