For the past two weeks fire crews all over the Foothills have been busy putting out grass fires thanks to some extremely dry weather.

Grass fires can be unpredictable and ignite from the smallest source possible, so far in two fires one out by Okotoks and Gladys Ridge have lead to over 50 acres of field burnt along with many close calls with fires getting close to homes, too close for comfort.

Okotoks Fire Chief Ken Thevenot has seen his fair share of grass fires and says the one dire factor in responding to grass fires is being aware of how fast the wind is blowing.

"There's a number of things you look at, yesterday when we had that first initial call come in, I looked at the flag poles to see where the wind was coming from," he says. "To see how strong they are, so you want to determine where the wind is."

When crews are dispatched they're usually packing a lot of water and Thevenot says they have to monitor their water supply when fighting grass fires.

"Could use large amounts, if you're in an area where you do have some bales or if it's spreading across you try to get the smaller vehicles or trucks to access it but those smaller trucks don't carry as much as the big trucks so you're moving back and fourth to try to maintain your water supply so you can get that quick extinguishments."

Even after last week's mix of snowfall and rain throughout the Foothills, as of Tuesday Thevenot says the amount of moisture last week is all dried up already.

"Sure didn't last very long and then when you do get those winds up, the wind seems to dry it out even more so we're back to where we were when we started last week before we even got that moisture and then with this weekend coming with the even warmer weather people should be very cautious or not even burning at this time."

A fire ban is still in effect for the M.D. of Foothills and has been since March 11.

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