Fire ban in effect at Guelph Lake for Hillside Festival
The Grand River Conservation Authority has imposed a ban between July 21 and July 25
Concert-goers camping at this weekend's Hillside Festival will have to be content with gathering around the light of their head lamps — a fire ban is in place for Guelph Lake for the entire weekend.
The ban, imposed by the Grand River Conservation Authority, will come into effect on Thursday at 8 a.m. and will remain until Monday at midnight.
The GRCA made the announcement on Tuesday in a news release. There is a ban on all open flames, including fires in fire pits, fire bowls and chimineas. Cooking with a barbecue, however, is still permitted.
Brad Dixon, superintendent of Guelph Lake Park, said some of the campsites are in extremely dry areas.
"We felt it best to have a total ban on any open-flame fire in the whole park," he said.
Little rain in the forecast
Although Guelph Lake received a lot of rain last weekend, it wasn't enough of a soaking to improve the dry conditions. The hot weather expected through the rest of the week is also not helping matters.
Environment Canada issued a heat warning on Wednesday morning for Guelph, the Region of Waterloo and surrounding areas.
From Thursday through to Sunday, the forecast for Guelph is calling for highs in the 30s with only a small chance of rain on Friday.