Lacombe County council waived late payment penalties on a large unpaid firefighting bill, but stood by the balance of the invoice. The decision was made at the Nov. 27 regular meeting of council.

Councillors read reports and heard presentations from Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Tim Timmons and Manager of Fire and Emergency Services Dave Bain regarding county resident Harvey Brink’s request to reduce a large firefighting bill that he received related to a fire he was responsible for May 6.

“On May 6, 2025, a Lacombe County peace officer (CPO) reported an unattended burn at SE 36-40-3 W5 to the county fire chief,” stated the staff memo. “The county fire chief advised the CPO to call 911, which he did. The Eckville Fire Department arrived on-scene at 11:48 a.m. to multiple burning brush windrows showing flames.

“The property owner was on-scene with a track hoe. Mutual aid from Bentley was requested due to the size and complexity of the fire. Suppression required multiple water tenders and extended operations lasting approximately eight hours. The lack of on-site water and (initial) manpower significantly increased response time and resource requirements. Mr. Brink brought in water during the response.

“Fire involved deep-seated windrows ignited weeks earlier and left unsupervised.”

The report noted that Brink originally received seven burn permits of seven days duration, the last of which expired Apr. 30. It was noted due to dry conditions a fire advisory was issued Apr. 25 limiting burns to a maximum of 500 square feet. That was followed up by a fire restriction for the same reason May 1 which suspended all fire permits.

Lastly, it was noted in the staff report, “The Brinks applied for two separate permits on May 1. The first one was for 500 square feet and the other for 12,500 square feet. Both applications were rejected due to the fire restriction being in place.”

It was noted at the meeting Brink received a bill for $24,862.50 for firefighting services from the Eckville and Bentley departments for the blaze in question. Readers should note that such services are separate and distinct from damage costs that fires may have caused to a property. Property damage may be covered by an insurance policy but the firefighting costs may not necessarily be covered under any policy unless that detail was agreed upon with an insurer beforehand.

As councillors debated Brink’s request the fire chief clarified that as the fire response occurred on May 6 and Brink’s application for a fire permit was denied five days before, the fire in question was unpermitted.

Readers should also note Lacombe County council in Oct. approved a $10,000 cap on firefighting services for permitted fires that require a response. However, it was pointed out that as the fire in question didn’t have a permit, the $10,000 cap wouldn’t be an option anyway.

The fire chief stated that as fire risk increases the public is notified of fire alerts and restrictions. He also noted that an automatic email is generated when a fire restriction is announced and sent to people who have a fire permit; the email instructs them to extinguish the fire in question immediately.

Councillors decided through a vote to uphold Brink’s entire firefighting bill, but they waived any late penalties charged on the unpaid amount until after Jan. 1, 2026.