A fire advisory is now in place across the entire northeast Avalon region including St. John’s, Mount Pearl, and Paradise.

That means all permits for open fires are banned, however, contained fires such as fire pits and chimineas that are purchased, installed, and used according to a manufacturer’s instructions are still allowed.

The St. John’s Regional Fire Department is advising those who use firepits or chimineas to only use seasoned wood, that winds do not exceed 25 km/h and that the smoke does not cause annoyance to nearby properties.

It’s still early in the forest fire season, but fire indexes in the province are rising.

As of Friday, the Trinity North region through to Bonavista Bay and as far as Fogo Island was showing in the extreme zone.

The Burin Peninsula, Baie Verte Peninsula, and the northern tip of the Great Northern Peninsula were all in the orange zone, meaning that the risk of forest fire is very high.

The forecast is calling for a 40 per cent chance of showers in many areas of the island for the next three days, but it is not clear if forecast precipitation levels will have an appreciable effect on forest fire risk.