The Town of High River has joined the growing list of municipalities putting a fire ban in place.

Fire Chief Len Zebedee says, as he's toured the town the last few days, he's noticed just how dry a lot of areas are.

"Things are really starting to dry out around town, the boulevards, and we have our Mercer property, our Hughes property, our Wallaceville property, lots of heavy grass and old growth in those area, and we're quite concerned about open fires in town right now," Zebedee says.

He says with the wind and the dry conditions it felt like now was the right time to minimize the risk, especially with what's happening throughout the province, along with having some of the fire department's staff away in Fort McMurray, he wants to minimize the risk and keep things safe for the community.

"We're definitely not shorthanded but when we start getting guys away, and if we do have something major close to home then it becomes a little bit more difficult to supply that manpower and equipment, I do want to minimize our risk," he says.

The ban applies to all open fires while bar-b-ques, propane and natural gas bar-b-ques and fire pits are allowed.

He's already spoken to the people at the campground in George Lane park to let them know about the ban.