Individual fined $1,200 for violating Ottawa burn ban after brush fire gets out of control

An individual is facing fines after a brush fire, set during a burn ban, got out of control in rural Ottawa. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

An individual is facing $1,200 in fines after a brush fire got out of control in rural southwest Ottawa.

Ottawa Fire Chief Paul Hutt says the fine is for violating the city’s open-air fire ban, which remains in effect. Thursday’s fire led to more than an acre of land being burned.

“In conjunction with Bylaw and Regulatory Services, fines in the amount of $1,200 were issued to an individual for burning brush without a permit and during a fire ban. Further fees are pending from the Ottawa Fire Service for equipment and resources dispatched to combat the blaze,” Hutt said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

Ottawa Fire Services public information officer Nick DeFazio said on Friday that firefighters were called to a section of Kettles Road on reports of brush fires burning out of control at around 4:02 p.m.

“Firefighters had to work through intense heat, to bring this fire under control. It did call in a lot of our resources,” he told CTV News Ottawa.

Flames were covering approximately one acre of land when firefighters arrived. The rural area has no hydrants, so a water shuttling system was established to allow firefighters to work on extinguishing the blaze.

While dealing with the first fire, crews discovered a second fire, covering about half an acre.

Both fires were under control by 5:12 p.m.

“Everyone is aware that there’s been very high temperatures which put firefighters at risk when fighting fires in these temperatures. We ask that people do follow the burn ban. Wildfires are a very hot topic right now in Canada. There’s no reason why anyone should be burning with such dry conditions in the city,” DeFazio said.

Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesperson Marc-Antoine Deschamps told CTV News Ottawa a resident was treated at the scene for minor burns but did not go to the hospital.

“Ottawa Fire Services would like to remind residents that a burn ban remains in effect across the City of Ottawa. All open-air burning is prohibited until further notice,” DeFazio said.

He added that violating the burn ban can come with additional costs.

“When this does happen, an individual can receive a Part III summons, which is an automatic appearance in court and up to $5,000 fine. And they can be responsible for paying the cost of our resources responding to the scene.”

Ottawa has only seen 9.2 mm of rain in August, officially, with all of it falling on Wednesday.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Camille Wilson

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