SMITHERS – Effective at 12 p.m. (noon) on Friday, July 5, 2024, Category 2 and Category 3 open fires will be prohibited across the Nadina Fire Zone, Bulkley Fire Zone and part of the Skeena Fire Zone. This includes the Nadina Forest District, the Skeena portion of the Skeena/Stikine Forest District and the Old Kalum portion of the Coast Mountains Forest District.
This prohibition is being implemented due to an upcoming trend of warmer and drier weather.
In addition to Category 2 and Category 3 open fires, the following activities will also be prohibited:
- fireworks, including firecrackers; and
- sky lanterns.
Please view a map of the affected areas below. A map is also available online.
Prohibitions apply to all public and private lands unless otherwise specified (e.g., in an enactment or local government bylaw). Please check with your local authorities before lighting any fire.
This prohibition does not ban Category 1 campfires, which are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide or smaller, and does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane, or briquettes.
For more information on how to have a safe campfire, as well as details about what constitutes a Category 2 or 3 open fire, visit the BC Wildfire Service website here.
Anyone conducting a Category 2 or Category 3 open fire must extinguish it by 12 p.m. (noon) Friday, July 5, 2024.
Anyone found in contravention of an open burning prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, 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, as well as the value of resources damaged or destroyed by the wildfire.
The Northwest Fire Centre would like to thank the public for its continued help preventing wildfires.
To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation, call 1-800-663-5555 toll-free, *5555 on a cell phone or directly through the BC Wildfire Service mobile app.
Follow the latest wildfire news on:
- X (formerly Twitter) at: http://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo
- Facebook at: http://facebook.com/BCForestFireInfo
- The free BC Wildfire Service web and mobile app, available to download for Apple and Android devices.
Contact:
Fire Information Officer
Northwest Fire Centre
BC Wildfire Service
250 876-6844
BCWS.NWFCInfo@gov.bc.ca
Connect with the Province of B.C. at www.gov.bc.ca/connect.