Victoria (BC Wildfire Service) – In light of the extremely hot and dry weather affecting large parts of the province, the BC Wildfire service is encouraging everyone to exercise caution with fire use to help prevent human-caused wildfires. These conditions are expected to persist in the coming weeks, with record-breaking temperatures forecasted for many parts of the province. Human caused wildfires are entirely preventable and unnecessarily increase the workload of crews and other personnel.
The BC Wildfire Service is fully prepared and confident in its resource capacity to deal with anticipated fire demands; however, it is important we all do our part in limiting additional demands on crucial firefighting resources.
The BC Wildfire Service is consistently monitoring conditions and assessing needs for further restrictions.
Please note that Category 2 and 3 open burning will be prohibited province wide as of Friday June 25th.
“Category 2 open fire” means an open fire, other than a campfire, that burns:
- material in one pile not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width,
- material concurrently in 2 piles each not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width, or
- stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 ha.
“Category 3 open fire” means an open fire that burns:
- material concurrently in 3 or more piles each not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width,
- material in one or more piles each exceeding 2 m in height or 3 m in width,
- one or more windrows, or
- stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 ha.
Anyone lighting a Category 3 fire must first obtain a burn registration number by calling 1 888 797-1717. These numbers are logged into the Open Fire Tracking System (OFTS) along with details about the registered burn.
