For Immediate Release
August 16, 2016

Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations BC Wildfire Service

Campfires prohibited in the Coastal Fire Centre

– Effective at 12 noon on August 17, 2016, campfires will be prohibited in all areas of the Coastal Fire Centre with the exception of Haida Gwaii and the area known as the ‘Fog Zone’. The Coastal Fire Centre is implementing this prohibition due to increased daily temperatures with no precipitation in the immediate forecast. This prohibition will remain in effect until October 21, 2016, or the public is otherwise notified.

The Category 2 prohibition will remain in place and anyone conducting Category 3 fires anywhere in the Coastal Fire Centre, with the exception of Haida Gwaii and the “Fog Zone”, must extinguish any such fires by noon on August 17, 2016.
This prohibition covers all BC Parks, Crown lands and private lands within the Coastal Fire Centre, with the exception of Haida Gwaii and the area known as the “Fog Zone”. It does not apply within the boundaries of a local government that has wildfire prevention bylaws in place and is serviced by a fire department.

The following uses will not be allowed:
 campfires, as defined by the wildfire regulation (burning of woody debris)
 open fires, of woody debris, in an outdoor stove
 tiki torches
 the use of fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns, burning barrels or burning cages of any
size or description;
 the use of binary exploding targets (e.g. for rifle target practice).

The prohibition does not apply to CSA-rated or ULC-rated cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes, or to a portable campfire apparatus that uses briquettes, liquid or gaseous fuel, as long as the height of the flame is less than 15 centimetres. Other items, or activities, that remain are prohibited are the use of tiki torches, fireworks and sky lanterns.

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. 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.

The Coastal Fire Centre covers all of the area west of the height of land on the Coast Mountain Range from the U.S.-Canada 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 cellphone.
For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, go to http://www.bcwildfire.ca

You can also follow the latest wildfire news on:
 Twitter at https://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo
 Facebook at http://facebook.com/BCForestFireInfo

Media Contact:
Donna MacPherson or Marg Drysdale Fire Information Officer
Wildfire Management Branch
Coastal Fire Centre
250 951-4209
Connect with the Province of B.C. at: www.gov.bc.ca/connect