Parksville – Effective at NOON Thursday, May 7, 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.
Over the past weekend , a half dozen fires, including the two near Chehalis and Cultus Lakes caused concern.
Category 1(campfires) , Category 2 and Category 3 open fires will be prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre’s jurisdiction.
The ONLY exception that only Category 2 and Category 3 fires will be prohibited in the Haida Gwaii Forest District (Category 1 campfires will be permitted). This prohibition will be in place until October 31, 2026, or until the order is rescinded.
A map of the affected areas is available online:
This prohibition applies to all areas in the Fire Centre that are 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); and
- Private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act).
Municipalities may follow BC Wildfire Service prohibitions or may impose different prohibitions based on conditions in their local area. If you are in a municipality, be sure to check if local prohibitions are in place. If you are within a regional district or improvement district, this prohibition applies as well as any local prohibition issued by the local authority. BC Parks follows BC Wildfire Service prohibitions.
Specifically, this prohibition refers to the following activities:
“Category 1 open fire” which means a campfire that is:
- No larger than 0.5 metres high by 0.5 metres wide,
- Used for recreational purposes or by a First Nation for ceremonial purposes.
“Category 2 open fire” which means an open fire, other than a category 1 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” which 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, each not exceeding 200 m in length or 15 m in width,
- Stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 ha.
