Fire fears spark call for encampment reporting in Lethbridge river valley

Following a pair of grass fires believed to have been caused by encampments or encampment-related activities, the City of Lethbridge is again asking city residents to help keep watch—particularly in the river valley.

Officials encourage residents to report any encampments or unsafe materials they come across.

The city says to call 311 so crews can clean up whatever is found.

While the number of encampments in the river valley has decreased recently, warmer temperatures, strong winds and low humidity have driven up the fire risk to extreme.

A fire ban was put in place for the river valley this past week as a result.

Both grass fires linked to encampments or encampment-related activities were sparked this past week.

More on encampments in Lethbridge:

According to officials, encampments in the river valley can also bring added dangers.

“Many times, we see people who choose to stay longer-term in encampments because they are involved in a level of criminality,” said Sgt. Ryan Darroch with the Lethbridge Police Service’s downtown policing unit.

“That can be drug trafficking, human trafficking, taking stolen property as trade for drugs, and they just don’t want the attention that comes from being around the shelter area, so they’ll go off into the river valley.”

“We have seen a reduction of encampments in the river bottom,” said Sean Middleton, the City of Lethbridge’s encampment support specialist.

“However, they do happen, and due to them being harder to get to, they can become entrenched if not reported.”

More on the recent grass fires:

While temperatures later this week are expected to drop back below freezing, the fire department says it won’t be enough to bring down the current fire risk.

The fire department says a large amount of moisture is needed.

Meanwhile, the fire ban put in place for the river valley this past week remains in effect.

The fire ban prohibits all open fires in the river valley, including campfires, fire pits and charcoal barbeques.

“The (risk) levels are extreme right now. Our levels in the river valley and all over the city are more or less like they would be in August or in a drought,” said Troy Hicks, Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services chief fire marshal, this past week.

“It is so dry. The wind, as we all know these last few days, just dries it out even more, and the smallest little spark can spread so quickly.

“It’s just very easy to get out of control.”