Effective at noon on May 30, most open burning activities will be prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre’s jurisdiction, with exceptions for Haida Gwaii. This prohibition is being enacted to help reduce human-caused wildfires and for public safety.
According to a media release from the Coastal Fire Centre, category two and category three open fires will be prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre's jurisdiction, which includes the Sunshine Coast. The exception is that category three fires will be prohibited in the Haida Gwaii Forest District.
This prohibition will be in place until October 31, or until the order is rescinded. It applies to all areas in the fire centre region outside of municipal boundaries. In addition, this prohibition applies to the following types of land within municipal boundaries: 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).
According to the fire centre, municipalities often follow BC Wildfire Service prohibitions or may impose different prohibitions based on conditions in their local area. Those in a municipality should check if local prohibitions are in place. If people are within a regional district or improvement district, this prohibition applies as well as any local prohibition issued by the local authority.
Specifically, the prohibition refers to the following activities:
Category two open fire, which means an open fire, other than a category one campfire, that: burns material in one pile not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width; burns material concurrently in two piles each not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width; burns stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 hectares.
A category three 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; stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 hectares.
Also prohibited are the activities listed below (Wildfire Act, Section 12): fireworks; as defined in the Fireworks Act; binary exploding targets; burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description; controlled air incinerators; air curtain burners; carbonizers.
According to the fire centre, this prohibition does not apply to category one campfires that are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide or smaller, or to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes. Anyone lighting a campfire must maintain a fireguard by removing flammable debris from around the campfire area and have a hand tool or at least eight litres of water available nearby to properly extinguish the fire, the fire centre stated.
Anyone found in contravention of an open fire prohibition may be issued a violation ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $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.
The fire centre covers all the area west of the height of land on the Coast Mountain Range from the Canada/US border at Manning Park, including Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park in the north, the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Haida Gwaii.
To report a wildfire, call 1.800.663,5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone, or report via the BC Wildfire Service App. For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions and other related advisories, go to bcwildfire.ca.
Join the Peak's email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
