Campfire and burning bans are going into effect early this year in B.C.’s Coastal Fire Centre.
The BC Wildfire Service says that starting at noon on Thursday, May 7, most open burning activities will be prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre, with exceptions for Haida Gwaii.
The Coastal Fire Centre covers 13 million hectares, including Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, the Sunshine Coast and Haida Gwaii.
Category 1, Category 2 and Category 3 open fires will be prohibited in all those areas, with the exception that only Category 2 and Category 3 fires will be prohibited on Haida Gwaii. Category 1 campfires will be permitted on Haida Gwaii.
This prohibition will be in place until Oct. 31 or until the order is rescinded, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
This prohibition applies to all areas in the fire centre that are outside of municipal boundaries and the following types of land that are within municipal boundaries:
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- Parks, conservancies and recreation areas (Park Act)
- Recreation sites, recreation trails, interpretive forest sites and trail-based recreation areas (Forest and Range Practices Act)
- Ecological reserves (Ecological Reserve Act)
- Wildlife management areas (Wildlife Act)
- Private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act)
Category 1 open fire means a campfire that is no larger than 0.5 metres high by 0.5 metres wide, and used for recreational purposes or by a First Nation for ceremonial purposes.
Category 2 open fire means an open fire, other than a Category 1 campfire, that burns material in one pile not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width, material concurrently in two piles each not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width, or stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 hectares.
Category 3 open fire means an open fire that burns material concurrently in three or more piles each not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width, material in one or more piles each exceeding two metres in height or three metres in width, one or more windrows each not exceeding 200 metres in length or 15 metres in width, or stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 hectares.
This prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves, the wildfire service said.
Wildfire officials have been warning about hot and dry conditions across B.C., and fire bans are put in place to cut down on human-caused fires.
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