There's no denying: the summer of 2017 has been a parched one, as little to no moisture has fallen in the southeast for the past few weeks.

Due to that, the Estevan Fire Department has made an important decision for the safety of the region.

"After a review of the current fire hazard and rates of spread conditions here in the southeast portion of the province, and in consultation with a lot of the Rural Municipalities that we service, effective immediately and until further notice fire bans have now been re-instituted for the RM's of Benson No. 35 and RM of Cambria No. 6 respectively," stated Fire Chief Dale Feser.

"The RM of Estevan No. 5 still has a fire ban in place as well, this coincides with the tinder-dry conditions that we're currently experiencing."

He pointed to the heavy amount of activity in the fields with farm equipment, and the advent of hunting season as reasons that played into the decision as well.

"When a fire ban is instituted, we take a look at a number of factors. Obviously, we can't control things such as machinery coming into contact with rocks or hot bearings coming into contact with vegetation, and starting that on fire. What we really focus on is ensuring that there are no controlled burns in the fields or in pits and barrels, fireworks or pyrotechnics, and this even comes down to the exploding targets that are used in recreational areas as well."

"We want to try and make sure that we're limiting the amount of ignition sources that are readily available to the dry vegetation," he explained.

To stay up to date on the latest information regarding fire bans, Feser points you to the Estevan Fire Rescue Facebook page.