Southeast Fire Centre issues Category 1 campfire ban
By The Nelson Daily Staff
The recent spike in warmer temperatures has caused the Southeast Fire Centre to issue a Category 1 campfire ban beginning 12:00 noon Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on Friday, July 12, 2024.
Environment Canada said these hot conditions are expected to continue into the end of the week with daytime highs reaching the high 30s and low 40s with overnight lows in the high teens.
The Southeast Fire Centre extends from the U.S. border to Mica Dam and from the Okanagan Highlands/west side of the Monashee Mountains to the B.C./Alberta border and includes several provincial parks including Valhalla, Kokanee Glacier, Top of the World and Elk Lakes covering more than eight million hectares of land.
As of 12:00 noon PDT, Friday, July 12, 2024, the following open fires are prohibited in the Southeast Fire Centre:
- Category 1 campfires as defined in the Wildfire Regulation
- Category 2 open fire as defined in the Wildfire Regulation
- Category 3 open fire as defined in the Wildfire Regulation.
In addition to open fires being prohibited, the following activities and equipment are also restricted:
- Fireworks;
- Sky lanterns;
- Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description;
- Binary exploding targets;
- Air curtain burners;
- Tiki and similar kind of torches; and,
- Chimineas.
This prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves.
As per the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA or ULC-rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel, and has a flame height that is less than 15 centimetres tall.
These prohibitions apply to all public and private land within the Southeast Fire Centre jurisdiction, unless specified otherwise in an enactment (e.g., in a local government bylaw.) Always check with local government authorities to see if any other burning restrictions are in effect.
Anyone found in contravention of an open fire prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of $10,000 or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.
To learn more about the different categories of open burning, visit the Open Burning webpage.
The Southeast Fire Centre would like to thank the public for its continuing help in preventing wildfires. To report a wildfire, call 1-800-663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone.
For up-to-date information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, call 1-888-3-FOREST or visit: www.bcwildfire.ca
The map of the Southeast Fire Centre shows affected area.
