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Cypress County has declared a state of emergency.
Cypress County is ramping up fire restrictions ahead of the long weekend and in the week after prairie fires scorched grassland throughout southeast Alberta.
On Thursday morning officials implements a ban on all fires including fireworks and campfires citing extremely dry conditions and the need to manage fire fighting resources.
A state of emergency was declared on July 27 when volunteer and county firefighters fought two blazes near Walsh and the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park.
This week, the Special Areas Board upgraded a standing fire advisory to fire restriction, suspending all controlled burn permits and restricting all outdoor fires to barbecue or certified campfire rings.
The amount of area under fire restrictions in southwest Saskatchewan is growing as well.
The rural municipalities of Clinworth and Happyland — both north of Fox Valley, Sask, — now appear on a list of municipalities in Saskatchewan that have restrictions in place.
Those three join the RMs of Maple Creek, Gull Lake, Big Stick, and Enterprise in the southwest on the list, as well as the R.M. of Sherwood, which surrounds Regina.
Towns and villages on the list include Consul, Sceptre, and Stewart Valley.
