Effective at noon Pacific Daylight Time on Thursday, June 29, 2023, the current Category 1 (campfire) prohibition on Vancouver Island has been expanded to include the Sunshine Coast Forest District, according to a Coastal Fire Centre media release. This prohibition is being enacted to help prevent human-caused wildfires and to protect public safety.
A map of the affected areas is available online: https://ow.ly/eSah50OYNie.
Campfires will remain prohibited on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, with the addition of the Sunshine Coast Forest District, which includes qathet Regional District and City of Powell River, along with tiki and similar kind of torches and chimineas, until October 31, 2023, or until the order is rescinded.
Campfires will continue to be permitted in the Sea to Sky Resource District, the Chilliwack Resource District, and the portion of the Central Coast Regional District that falls within the North Island Central Coast Resource District, and the Haida Gwaii Resource District. However, if conditions change in these areas, prohibitions may once again be enacted.
Category 2 and Category 3 fires remain prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre. The Category 2 and Category 3 prohibition also restricts the following activities and equipment: fireworks, sky lanterns, burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description, binary exploding targets and air curtain burners.
Use of outdoor stoves is not prohibited. As per the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated 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 Coastal Fire Centre jurisdiction, unless specified otherwise in an enactment (e.g., in a local government bylaw).
To report a wildfire, call 1.800.663.5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone. For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, go to bcwildfire.ca.
Anyone who lights, fuels or uses an open fire when a fire prohibition is in place or fails to comply with an open fire prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150 or, if convicted in court, be fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail, according to the Coastal Fire Centre. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be subject to a penalty of up to $100,000 and ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.
