As of noon, Friday May 5, the Prince George Fire Centre will be prohibiting Category 2 open burning in the Peace Forest District.
The prohibition will remain in place until June 2, 2023, or until the order is rescinded.
The order is also in effect in the Fort Nelson Forest District and the Robson Valley Fire Zone.
According to the order, “all persons lighting, fuelling, or using any of the open fires listed above within the restricted area are to cease doing so and to extinguish all such fires.”
Under the Wildfire Regulation, a Category 2 open fire is a fire that:
- burns material in one pile not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width; or
- burns material concurrently in two piles, each not exceeding two metres high and three metres wide; or
- burns stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 hectares (2,000 square metres); or
- is not a campfire.
The following activities and use of the following equipment, materials and substances are also prohibited:
- Fireworks
- Sky Lanterns
- Burn Barrels or Burn Cages of any size or description
- Binary exploding targets
- Air Curtain Burners
“This prohibition has been implemented to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety due to the high grass fire hazard and increased incidence of human-caused wildfires associated with Category 2 burning.”
But it’s not all bad news. The prohibition order does not apply to campfires that are, at largest, a half-metre high by a half-metre wide, nor does it prohibit cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes, or registered Category 3 burns.
The prohibition applies to all public and private lands unless otherwise specified (e.g., in an enactment or local government bylaw). Check with local government authorities for restrictions before lighting any fire.
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.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
