Starting at noon on Thursday Aug. 31, the BC Wildfire Service is issuing a campfire ban across the VanJam (Vanderhoof/Fort St. James), Mackenzie and Fort Nelson fire zones in the Prince George Fire Centre.
The category 1 prohibition covers the Stuart, Mackenzie and Fort Nelson Forest Districts and will remain in effect until noon on Sunday, October 15 or until it is rescinded.
Prohibitions apply to all public and private lands unless otherwise specified.
In addition to prohibiting the use of open fire of any size, the following activities are prohibited:
- Fireworks
- Sky lanterns
- Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description
- Binary exploding targets
- Air curtain burners
- Chimineas
- Tiki and similar kinds of torches
- Outdoor stoves or other portable campfire apparatus without a CSA or ULC rating
This prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves. As outlined in the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated or ULC-rated rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance, that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel, and has a flame height less than 15 centimetres tall.
Anyone found in contravention of an open-burning prohibition may be issued a violation ticket for $1,150, may be required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, may be 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.
