The Okotoks Fire Department is reminding everyone to enjoy the warm winter weather responsibly over the next little while.

February Snow or Shine is the driest winter month of the season and a small spark could lead to a big problem.

Fire Chief Ken Thevenot encourages those who may smoke whether outside or in a vehicle to be aware of their surroundings.

"People discarding smoking material along the ditches which could start field fires this time of year," he says. "In the last number of years in February we've had a few fires. People need to be cautious in how they discard their smoking material because those fields are really starting to dry up."

As for the first week of February, Thevenot says they responded to 16 different calls, three involving fires.

"We have three fire responses, seven medical calls, two public hazards and four motor vehicle accidents that we attended to."

Thevenot says the number of calls they've received this year is still behind last year's totals at this time.

"That brings us up to 97 responses to date, last year at this time we were at 102 just a little bit behind from last year."

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