Is Red Deer's Green Thumb Getting Too Dry?

Morning from Central Alberta — five communities, one correspondent, and all the stories the big papers forgot.

I'll tell you what, you know those little sparks you see sometimes on a dry summer day? The kind that make you hold your breath a bit? Well, Red Deer Emergency Services has been busy putting out not one, but *two* separate brush fires in the Johnstone neighbourhood this past week. Now, that ain't exactly a typical spring occurrence, even for us. It makes you wonder what kind of tinderbox we're sitting on after the winter we had, and with how dry things have been.

This ain't just about a few singed shrubs, either. Johnstone Park, it's a good stretch of green, tucked right there in the city. You got folks walking their dogs, kids playing, and it’s right up against homes. When you hear about crews having to hit the same spot twice in a week, it starts to feel a bit more like a warning shot. We've seen what a little spark can do in this province when things get dry enough, and it ain't pretty.

* **Dry Conditions:** We didn't get the snowpack some places did, and the wind has been a real bandit for any moisture we had.

* **Public Awareness:** Folks gotta remember how quickly things can go from a little flame to a big headache, especially with all the coulees and dry brush around the Red Deer River valley.

* **Community Impact:** These fires, small as they might seem, tie up valuable resources. Those firefighters are pulled away from other emergencies, and that's a cost to every one of us who calls Red Deer home.

We gotta keep our eyes peeled, Red Deer. A little bit of caution goes a long way when the grass is brittle and the wind's kicking up. Let's make sure our beautiful parks stay green for the right reasons.

Wyatt Brandt, MiTL Sports Desk, Red Deer.

Old man Peters and the gang on the morning show always got a good chuckle outta stuff like this – check 'em out at mornings.live.