Saskatoon city councillors to debate firepit bylaw

The Saskatoon Fire Department says firepits on private property in the cityare not "a fire safety problem" for the department but do carry certain health risks for some people inhaling wood smoke.

That's the conclusion of a report going to City Hallon Monday.

"We're not seeing a problem with firepits as a start for fires," said Wayne Rodger, the fire department's assistant chief of communications and public relations.

• Fire pit rules: Saskatoon Fire reminds residents to be cautious

According to the report, complaints about firepits make up less than one per cent of all incidents the department responds to every year.

"There is no report of a structural or wildland fire being caused by an open-air fire," the report states

Mother concerned for child

The department's review was spurred by the mother of an asthma-suffering child who told city councillors last year that her neighbours' backyard bonfires caused choking and coughing.

The fire department also received 38 written requests last year to consider some kind of restriction on firepits due to health concerns.

The department acknowledges that young children and people with respiratoryconditions or heart problems could be affected.

"Studies of wood smoke have linked short-term exposure with acute bronchitis, asthma attacks, aggravation of lung diseases and increased susceptibility to respiratory infection,"the report says.

While not making any specific recommendation to councillors, the report lays out four potential options:

• doing nothing
• limiting open-air fires to certain hours of the day or days of the week
• requiring permits for open-air fires
• prohibiting the fires altogether

Rodger says he hopes the report spurs councillors to provide more guidance to the fire department.

"We would take it back and dig into this a little bit further," he said.

The department is expected to issue afollow-up report in the fall.