With a dryer than average winter transitioning into what could be an even dryer spring, the Moose Jaw Fire Department is urging residents to be extra vigilant in preventing grass fires.

Fire Chief Rod Montgomery says the overall lack of precipitation and spring runoff has left the area particularly vulnerable to grassfires, even this early in the season. Just a few weeks ago, the fire department responded to two wildfire calls in just one day.

ncreasing use of a product called tannerite for target practice.

"When you shoot it, it explodes violently and creates a lot of heat. If you use it anywhere near vegetation, there's a very good chance that it will catch fire."

The local fire department has responded to a number of fires that resulted from tannerite explosions in the last two years, and Montgomery suspects that there are even more that have yet to be conclusively linked to the chemical. He points to the devastating wildfires in parts of the U.S. that started from unsafe use of tannerite.

"Those individuals have paid massive fines because of those fires. So, I think that most people just need to be made more aware of the dangers. It's not worth the risk at all."

Montgomery says he hopes that the provincial government bans the use of tannerite for target practice.