The B.C. government is implementing a fire ban in large swaths of the province starting this week – but campers will still be able cook their food and marshmallows.
Effective noon Thursday, Category 2 open burns will be prohibited across the Coastal Fire Centre, which includes all of Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, Haida Gwaii and more.
The ban applies to:
- Burning any material (piled or unpiled) smaller than two metres high and three metres wide
- Burning stubble or grass over an area less than 2,000 square metres
- Using fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns, burning barrels or burning cages
- Using binary exploding targets
The Ministry of Forests said the prohibition doesn't apply to larger Category 3 fires, or to campfires that are a maximum of a half-metre high and half-metre wide.
Before lighting a campfire, campers have to remove flammable debris from the fire area, and make sure they have a hand tool or at least eight litres of water nearby to properly extinguish the fire.
Campers can also continue to use cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes under the ban being implemented Thursday.
Anyone found violating the open burn prohibition can face a ticket of $1,150 and an additional administrative penalty of up to $10,000. If convicted in court, ban-breakers can be fined up to $100,000 and face a year in jail – and the penalties can get even worse from there.
"If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs," the ministry said in a news release.
Anyone who sees a wildfire, an unattended campfire or an open burning violation is asked to report it to the B.C. Wildfire Service at 1-800-663-5555 or by dialing *5555 on a cellphone.
