Campfire prohibition planned for the Northwest Fire Centre



SMITHERS – Due to current conditions, a Category 1 campfire prohibition will be put into effect for the Northwest Fire Centre. Effective at 12 p.m. (noon) PDT on Thursday, August 31, 2023, Category 1 campfires will be prohibited across the Northwest Fire Centre.

This campfire prohibition will remain in effect until October 16, 2023, or until the order is rescinded.

A map of affected areas is available online here.

On August 31, 2023, the following open fires are prohibited in the Northwest Fire Centre:

  • Category 1 campfires as defined in the Wildfire Regulation;
  • Category 2 open fire as defined in the Wildfire Regulation; and,
  • Category 3 open fire as defined in the Wildfire Regulation

In addition to open fires being prohibited, the following activities and equipment are also restricted:

  • Fireworks, including firecrackers;
  • Sky lanterns;
  • Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description;
  • Binary exploding targets;
  • Air curtain burners;
  • Tiki and similar kind of torches; and,
  • Chimineas

To learn more about the different categories of open burning, visit the Open Burning webpage on bcwildfire.ca

This prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves. As per the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated or ULC-rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel, and has a flame height that is less than 15 centimetres tall.

The Category 1 campfire prohibition includes all BC Parks, Crown lands and private lands. Human-caused wildfires are completely preventable and divert critical resources away from lightning-caused fires.

Check with your local government or other jurisdictional authorities before lighting a fire of any size since they may have their own restrictions in place.

To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation, call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone.

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Contact:

BC Wildfire Service
Fire Information Officer
Northwest Fire Centre
BCWS.NWFCInformationOfficer@gov.bc.ca
250-876-6844